"The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom ClanceyToday was one of "those" days - the kind where you wish there was a "do-over" button, the kind where you want to hide from the world, the kind where you end up eating ice cream for dinner because..... well, just because.
It all started at 2:00 a.m., or at least, that's when we noticed the power was out. Dan set his cell phone alarm so we would wake up at 6:00, which was a good thing as the power was still out then. It is very difficult to get three children ready and off to school, and two adults off to work, with no power. I'm not complaining, as I know having electricity is a luxury that many in the world cannot afford, but I just felt "off" all day.
The power finally came back on at 10:00 a.m. (eight hours later) but by then we were at work and had bigger fish to fry, namely, a mysterious bill from the City of Tshwane for property taxes, totaling R17,000. They were charging more than double, as though we owned an empty stand (it costs more to own an empty stand (lot) than it does to own one with a house built on it). Dan went to the City office to try and sort it out, and was sent to another office to get an "Occupation Certificate" to prove that we lived there, and then was sent to another office to prove that there's actually a house there (I am NOT making this up!), and then to some guy's office up on the sixth floor of some other nameless building. THIS man said he could help, and left the office for a few minutes. When he came back in, he was refastening the belt on his trousers (yikes!). He informed us that everything was taken care of and we would get a refund on our next statement. "Yes, but you see, we still need to PAY the bill. We just need to pay the right amount..." but it was too late. He was gone.
When I fetched my children from school, I got an earful from my son's teacher, his music teacher, and his sports teacher. I won't post it here to save my son embarrassment, but needless to say it was one of those mortifying parent moments.
The rest of the day wasn't much better, but while I was scrubbing toilets (to burn off some frustration), I suddenly burst out laughing, remembering that yesterday's sermon at church was on giving thanks in all circumstances, and here - when not even 24 hours had elapsed - I had completely forgotten. Oops.
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - I Thessalonians 5:16-18
"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever." - I Chronicles 16:34
1 comment:
It wasn't just you...I think it was an international thing... I have been having the same kind of week!
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