A Hectic Life

Sometimes, life gets hectic. The day I had yesterday was a perfect example of that.

The first thing I did when I woke up was make coffee and start boiling water for grits. Not a bad start to a day, I said to myself. And after that I was pretty sure that I had jinxed myself.

I went to go check on the kittens that were born only a few weeks ago, and found one of them dead. Yeah. Let’s just say a lot of tears were shed and I hated myself for not caring for it better. I started questioning my priorities and promising myself I would care better for my cats in future. I swore it to myself.

Next, I had to go the store to pick up groceries for the week and all the ingredients I needed for the three recipes I had to develop that day. I went with my mom and my brother.

Well, you may or may not know this, but I have back problems. Like—severe back problems.

So we were walking around the store and I started kicking myself for not wearing a brace or applying essential oils before I went. I was in excruciating pain the whole time (and I’m sure my mother was too, as she has back problems as well). We started checking out and realized we hadn’t grabbed the rice milk yet, so I was sent to go grab some. And then it happened.

I was walking back from the milk aisle and one of the disks in my back slipped. I collapsed and fell to the floor.

I’m pretty sure a few curse words slipped out, and I was so thankful when a middle-aged lady saw me on the ground and helped me up.

Thank God for kind women.

We got home from the store at around noon and made lunch (egg salad sandwiches with apples). It felt great to recharge. Because I really needed it.

After lunch was cleaned up, it was time for me to start developing recipes. I spent about an hour writing out my photo plans and how I wanted to execute each recipe. It took a lot longer than I had intended because I kept getting distracted every five minutes. Having siblings who are playing instruments and asking for help with their schoolwork will do that to ya.

So, from 1:00 pm to 3:45 pm, I tested and retested a few recipes, took pictures of each step, took pictures of the ingredients laid out, and taste-tested. I swear I walked a mile in my kitchen that day.

Then, my second littlest brother decided to start jumping around like a Mexican jumping bean in the living room,landed on my foot, and tore back my big-toe nail. And it hurt. And it bled. And I cried for the second time that day. My sweet, sweet father clipped back what he could, bandaged it, and managed to cheer me up. (He pretended to eat my foot. Mhmm.)

Next, the kitchen needed to be tended to. At 4:45, I finally finished cleaning up the disaster that was my kitchen. There was a mountain of dishes that needed to be washed and dried (and I suddenly envied anyone who owned a dishwasher). The table was covered in another mountain of dirty dishes, pieces of paper, ingredients, camera stuff, pens, and plenty more random objects.

So what did I do after that? Good question.

I went to my bedroom, laid face-down on my bed, put my face in my pillow.

And I cried. Cried until no more tears would come.  A hard day will do that to you.

So let’s briefly go over what all happened that day, shall we?

One of my kittens died. I walked in agony at the grocery store. My disk slipped on the way back from the milk aisle and I fell. In public. I spent an hour writing my game plan for the recipes I would be developing , all the while distracted by my family. I tested and retested (and retested) recipes. I took pictures of every step. I walked a mile in my kitchen. I got my big toe nail torn back. I cleaned my kitchen five times.I didn’t get any of my schoolwork done at all. And I cried. For a long time.

What else happened that day?

I got to spend some time with two of my best friends at the grocery store. I bought treats for my cats. I witnessed a pure act of kindness! I ate a delicious and nutritious lunch with my family, made with homemade whole wheat bread and local organic apples. I heard my siblings rock out on the guitar, drums, and bass. I got to help my siblings with their schoolwork. We harvested sweet potatoes from our garden! My dad helped me with my wound and joked around with me. And my kitchen was sparkling clean.

Oh yeah. And I made a lot of good food.

It was the roughest/longest day I’ve had in a while. And it wasn’t the best one either.

I may not be rich or have much money. I may be behind in my studies. I may have embarrassed myself in public. And I may have severe back problems. 

But I’m alive. I’m young. And I have my whole family to help me each step of the way. All 9 of them. It helps a lot to know that God loves me. No matter how many mistakes I make. No matter how many people I’ve hurt. He loves me.

And even when life gets hectic, I know God will be there to catch me when I fall.