Assistance from the unlikliest sources...

I have found that help often comes not from the expected people and places, but from some of the most random sources. In my not-so-very vast lifetime, I have been aided by many strangers. There was one time in Miami, I was taking public transportation to South Beach, but had no clue how to get there, so asked some people who were travelling with me. Everyone around me was hispanic, so I tried to find the most caucasian person, hoping they would speak English. However, they all gave me blank stares of incomprehension. Oddly enough, the one guy who looked to me like he had just stepped off the boat from Cuba, said to me in perfectly clear English, "I am getting off at that stop. Just follow me and I will show you were it is." He did too!

The most recent example of help from strangers came to me on Sunday. My flat-mate, Mom, sisters, and I were trying to push my car off the street because the starter had died and I did not want to get a parking ticket for being there at the wrong time of day. A guy in a large, red, plumbing and heating co. van stopped and asked what we were doing. He proceded to take a look at my car and try to fix it. As it turns out, he had been an auto mechanic for some twenty-odd years and definitely knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, the starter was in worse shape than we had realized. It had managed to get itself fused in place. After two hours of working on it and taking out every tool he owned (including a blow torch!), he realized he was not going to be able to get it off without puttin the car on a lift. And actually, even the shop I brought the car to ended up breaking the piece to get it off after going through the same torture the first guy went through. I felt bad for the guy because he probably expected it to be an easy task when he took it on. I thank him profusely for stopping to help. His response was sweet: "you're like my daughter. People just need to help each other out. WHen I drove by and saw half a dozen women trying to push a car, I thought 'something is wrong with this picture!"" His own daughter is several years older than me (that is what he was talking about when he said I was like his daughter). He may not have been able to fix my car, but it meant a lot to me that he was willing to take so much of his time to try to help me, a perfect stranger.

Being the cynical NYer that I am, it is easy for me to dispair that there are no "good samaritans" left in the world. Thankfully, God sends his messengers of mercy every once in a while to remind us that they still exist.

Confession of a Professional Procrastinator

I told myself last year that I would not wait until the last possible minute to submit my taxes. It just causes needless stress for me. Last year on April 14th, I had boarded a cruise ship, sat in the sun, filled out my taxes and then found out I had to disembark to mail it. So, before the ship pulled away from the dock, I got off, frantically searched for a mailbox… I ran into some people who had noticed me filling out my taxes. They asked me if I needed to mail it off. When I answered in the affirmative, they offered to take the envelope off my hands and deliver it safely to the nearest mailbox. Of course I did not know these people from Adam, but I was a little worried at this point that the ship was going to leave without me. I gave them the envelope and thanked them profusely as I ran to catch my ship. This year, when I got back from Iraq, I kept telling myself that I had plenty of time. I did not have any of the forms, my W-2, or the amount of interest I had made on my savings account, so I was waiting for some of that to come in. What I didn’t think about was the fact that all that stuff should have come in long ago… it probably had come in, but got lost somewhere along the way as all my mail was being forwarded to friends’ houses. Unfortunately, once again I was down to the wire, except this time I think I even broke my own record of procrastination. I woke up this morning and thought to myself, “is it April 15, isn't it? I guess I need to get my taxes done and submitted by the end of the day.” Once I got to the office I continued putting off the inevitable. Finally, around one o’clock I mustered up enough energy to walk to the bank to get the only thing I still needed: my statement of interest accumulated. That done, I was able to finish my tax form and get it in on time. While I hate the fact that I am a procrastinator, at least I always get things done on time even if they are not early. And who knows, maybe next year will be better. =)

A check in perspective

My little sister is a great one for lifting spirits and encouraging others to have a more optimistic outlook on life. She knew I was having a bad day yesterday, so when I got into work this morning, the following poem, quoted in North and South, was awaiting me in my inbox. I particularly liked the third verse (as you can probably tell from the way it is bolded).

That doubt and trouble, fear and pain,
And anguish, all, are shadows vain,
That death itself shall not remain;

That weary deserts we may tread,
A dreary labyrinth may thread,
Through dark ways underground be led;

Yet, if we will one Guide obey,
The dreariest path, the darkest way
Shall issue out in heavenly day;

And we, on divers shores now cast,
Shall meet, our perilous voyage past,
All in our Fathers house at last!
- R.C Trench

Thanks Sushi!

Post 333

Would that be like the mark of Beauty (the opposite of 666) or the mark of half a beast? =P

Gotta get outta here!

The following are great lyrics (I think - but then again, all I want to do right now is escape it all):

I’ve given up on giving up slowly, I’m blending in so
You won’t even know me apart from this whole world that shares my fate
This one last bullet you mention is my one last shot at redemption
because I know to live you must give your life away
And I’ve been housing all this doubt and insecurity and
I’ve been locked inside that house all the while You hold the key
And I’ve been dying to get out and that might be the death of me
And even though, there’s no way in knowing where to go, promise I’m going because
I gotta get outta here
I’m stuck inside this rut that I fell into by mistake
I gotta get outta here
And I’m begging You to be my escape

I’m giving up on doing this alone now
Cause I’ve failed and I’m ready to be shown how
He’s told me the way and I’m trying to get there
And this life sentence that I’m serving
I admit that I’m every bit deserving
But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair

I am a hostage to my own humanity
Self detained and forced to live in this mess I’ve made
And all I’m asking is for You to do what You can with me
But I can’t ask You to give what You already gave

I'm begging You, I'm begging You, I'm begging You to be my escape

Oh how we regret those things we do
And all I was trying to do was save my own skin
But so were You

So were You...

~ Relient K

The glass is more than half full

I've been too focused on the negative lately (and there is plenty of negative to focus on). The problem is that in looking at the bad, I have been completely ignoring all the great things I have to be thankful for. It struck me today as I was driving from my new apartment back to work in my boss's car. I mean, here I am, on a work day, moving into my new apartment - not only that, but I have a boss who really cares about me and was willing to let me leave for a couple of hours to do that, PLUS use his SUV so I could move my stuff more easily. I have a new great apartment and wonderful flatmate, but I also have AWESOME friends, who have let me store my stuff in their garage and crash at their house until I was able to move. This past month, I have been completely reliant on the hospitality of all my friends in this area.

As I was thinking on all these things, the lyrics to a song I've occasionally heard Grandma sing came to mind...

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium's
Liable to walk upon the scene

Sometimes I just need to remind myself that despite the trying times that come my way and the adversity that often seems too close for comfort, my cup is not only full, but as the Psalmist puts it, "my cup runneth over." (Psalm 23)