Missing the Fire Dept.

Somehow I slept through the fire department coming to our place a while back.

I woke up one morning to missed calls and texts from a coworker with the last message stating: “The firemen came and cleared it as safe.” 

What!?

In the middle of the night!?

How did I miss the excitement?! 

I ALWAYS miss the good stuff!! 

I told my coworker to use her master key and GET ME next time. I'm sorry, I mean, I hope there's not a next time. Truly. I think. Okay, maybe not entirely....

A couple of the kiddos were scared due to their unwelcome 2am wake-up call. I had the oh so BRILLIANT idea to take the kiddos on an impromptu field trip to the Fire Station thanking the men for keeping us safe. 

Today, in a staff meeting we took some time, as always, to check in with one another and see how the week has been. The founder of our ministry asked about my day. Perhaps he was surprised to see me wearing my glasses or gathered my eyes were mostly closed, or maybe I was wearing the same clothes as a couple days ago? I'm not sure. 

My coworkers started laughing. I looked at them trying to figure out how to make my "day" concise. 

I read a text I'd sent to a few friends: 

            Ohhh my word. My on duty night: woke up in the middle of the night to take a mom and child to the ER. Encouraged her to wait it out if she felt okay with it. Woke up at 4:56am to the alarm going off. Couldn’t find my pants anywhere. Clearly, I couldn’t leave my apartment to kill a potential burglar without pants. All was ok with the alarm. Stayed up and made pancakes. Then both my kitchen sinks backed up with gross water. Left to go to small group. Ran into a basketball hoop while backing up. Now I have to get a new bumper and hatchback thingy. Is it Friday?! 

Updates:

1. Baby is better. No ER trips praise God. Prayers appreciated for healthy babes.

2. A new resident set off the alarm accidentally. She didn't know it, but it was her christening into the community. Meanwhile, staff's still working on our safety responses: bats, mace, cell phones, keys, flashlights. Basically we bring a backpack of self defense gear with us to see what we'll need. I've been told I'm to not use my taser inside the house. Also, pants....

3. I am on call again tonight and have been encouraged by those who have done this before me to.....wear pants to bed. 

4. My kitchen sinks are still backed up. It's super gross, but pales in comparison to the mouse issue, as does pretty much EVERYTHING. 

5. My vehicle? Apparently that basketball hoop wins a lot of fights with vehicles. I'm trying not to think about it, as it still has to go into the shop from a hit and run from a few months ago. Can we have briefcases that turn into airplanes yet please?

6. Tonight an 8 year old, who loves to pray at group dinner nights, had every woman in the house going "AWWWWW" as she asked Jesus to make sure all the homeless are kept warm and safe in the snow.

7. The same little one warmed my heart as she sang to the little baby in my arms later. 

8. This little love. He's the newest addition to the home. His momma is sweet and knows nothing about infants - my favorite kind of momma because she is desperate to learn. He was crying. She needed a break. He helped me out in the best ways possible: snuggles and smiles. There's just something about doing your nightly on-duty hours with a baby in tow that makes everything sweeter. Even if one eye refuses to open all the way. Sleep IS coming!

There are days when just a couple things are going wrong and you feel like the world is caving in.

Then, there are days when you feel like you're barely getting through and choose to simply say: "God's got it. I'm not going to worry."

I certainly don't always make that choice, but I'm sure glad I did today. It freed me up to see all the good things happening around me until I could finally....SLEEP.