Rainy Days and Oranges

It was Monday.  I was driving along in the rain, eating an orange that I had just bought from a happy old mama at the market.  It was one of the best oranges ever.  Or maybe it was my cheerful mood that made it seem better than ever?  Well, rain is enough to make any day happy.  I was heading home from Luanda after shopping with two of my friends at the market there.  We had finished our shopping just as the sprinkles began to change to splatters.  While we dashed to our vehicles, the tenders began pulling out tarps to cover their goods.  What a lovely rain it was.  I couldn’t help but sing out loud to myself as I headed back toward the town of Kisumu, toward home.  The windshield wipers swished back and forth as accompaniment.  What a beautiful world God has given us.  What a gift to be able to live in it!!  

It was a few hours later.  I was scrubbing at school.  Scrubbing grimy walls, dusty desks, a filthy floor.  The world didn’t seem so sparkly anymore.  My finger hurt.  Severely.  It was a very little burn.  On only one finger.  I had hurriedly pulled the pan of lemon cookies out of the oven before heading out the door again, but somehow… I came in contact with the hot cookie sheet.  Unwanted contact.  Other things seemed gloomy.  The job seemed big.  Overwhelming.  Yet, what a beautiful world God has given us.  What a gift to be able to live in it!!   So why let my current perspective destroy the joy of the moment?  The grime, dust, and filth were wiped away.  Oh, the classroom will get dirty again, but for now it’s clean.  For now. 

The day didn’t seem to improve.  In reality, it seemed as though it couldn’t get much worse.  The sewing machine wouldn’t cooperate when I tried to obtain its assistance.  Thread wadded up on the underside of the fabric.  The needle jumped over and began sewing to the side.  It continually unthreaded itself.  Without permission.  Seams didn’t match up.  The popcorn bowl dumped and spilled all over the floor.  Everything seemed to go wrong.  I went to bed.  Mosquitoes decided it was time for my daily blood donation.  I scratched.  I felt miserable.  For a moment.  But life is a gift.  A gift we don’t deserve.  A gift that I am thankful for…even tho it doesn’t hurt to be realistic and remind yourself that life isn’t always about eating oranges in the rain.