Satan's Darts

Have you ever had one of those days that nothing seemed to go right?  Did it ever continue into two days?  I'm sure you've all had bad days that never seemed to end.  Tuesday and Wednesday were days, for me, that everything seemed to go wrong.

I'm going to make a little timeline....not for you....but for my future reference.  Who would want to forget two days of bad?! Ha ha!

Tuesday morning:
Youngest son sick....stayed home from school.
I'm working on my ladies Bible class lesson about being compassionate.
About 10:00 a.m. I get a call that the tablecloths ordered for our Jr. Sr. banquet came in all wrong. Instead of 14 black rectangle cloths, we have 125 white rectangle cloths.  And the napkins that are supposed to be white are black.
I tell one of the sponsors not to worry.....use my motto of "no stress" - and assure her that I'll take care of the table issue. Start working on that and figure out that the 12 inch centerpieces I ordered, but hadn't even opened the box or looked at, were actually 25" wall hangings!
I get stressed!  I don't like to be stressed. I tell sick son that we have to drive to Hobby Lobby - about an hour away.  On the way, I call H.L. to see how many of these 12 inch centerpieces they have. They have 4. I call another on - about another hour away. They have 3. I call two others that are about 2 hours and 15 min. away, but where my daughter goes to school. Those stores have 3 and 4, and I would be seeing her the next day. The total 14 I need!
Win!  Yay!  But, they're all full price - $20 each - instead of 1/2 price like the box of huge ones were. And now I'll need to return the huge ones to get reimbursed for them.
While in the other towns, we go to Sam's Club and purchase black rectangle tablecloths that can be cut in half and used as table toppers.
Okay.....the day is almost over! I get back home and start working on my lesson again.

Wednesday morning:
I finish it and the outline at 1:00 a.m.  But guess what? The new software on my Apple laptop has a different saving system and the lesson didn't save!  It was now blank. I have my outline, but that isn't how I teach.  So, at 1:00 a.m., I go searching for something to teach.  And I have to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to get ready and go to a golf tournament.
I find a lesson about Attitudes.  I think God directed me to that - knowing I was going to need it!
I go to sleep at 2:30 A.M.  I hear my boys up about 3:30 a.m.   I wake up at 4:00 a.m. and get ready.
The golf tournament starts almost 30 minutes late, no big deal, but makes us later getting home.
My daughter, whose college is 10 or so miles from the golf course gets lost trying to get to the golf course because the GPS puts SOUTH in the address instead of NORTH.  Mine did that, too, but I got it changed. She didn't know that, though. I wait at the clubhouse for 30 minutes for her to get there.  Finally she does.  I'm getting sad that I've missed so much of the tournament.
We go to find our team - spread out over the course.  WE LOOK FOR 1 1/2 HOURS BEFORE FINDING THEM!  I am NOT kidding!  One and a half hours of driving a golf cart all over a 3 1/2 mile course!  Could NOT find them. Craziest thing ever!  Finally. Finally. Finally.  We found them. I was really almost in tears.
Not a minutes after we found them, a cheap black bead bracelet - with a Tiger paw print - I was wearing happened to catch on the mini pencil that is inserted in the golf score card section of the steering wheel in the golf cart. The bracelet broke in pieces sending beads and the paw all over the cart path! That was actually funny and helped lighten up the day!
We eat with my daughter. One of my boys rides home with me and the other is still with the team. We head home.
On the way home, I decide to call a party store that is about an hour from home and half-way between where I am at that time and my home.  About 6 weeks ago I ordered a LOT of stuff for a big alumni banquet we are having for my husband work - the children's home. We are celebrating its 90th year of existance.  Would you believe that the party store, after telling me they had to order that much, and it needed to be done way in advance, is now telling me that they were just planning to get it off the shelf?  That they had 9 in stock??  And I need more than 30 of everything?!!  They have none of the paperwork. They are positive they can have it when I need it by Monday, but they will have to call and get it. They wanted to know how much I needed, but I didn't have the information with me. It was at home. I just was hoping the box was in, and since I was going through - I could stop by and get it. But they have NONE of IT and no record of it. The manager vaguely remembers something about plates.  Oh boy!  I was nice, but obviously frustrated about the whole situation.  And still am.  They are supposed to be getting me 50 of everything, then I will buy what I need from that stock.

I got home at 6:20 and got to the church building at 6:45....made copies of the outlines for class....rearranged the classroom to how we need it for Wednesday night....and was wearing thin on my few hours of sleep.
Just wow.

The Attitude lesson went well and helped me. The songs we sang during the devotional time helped, too. Prayer helped.  I was beginning to just laugh at the two days I had had. And then, thinking about people who are undergoing serious health problems made me realize that my two bad days weren't all that bad.

On the way home I talked to my husband on the phone. He's been away for work related childcare meetings for a whole week. I said, "I think Satan's throwing darts at me!"  He said he thought Satan was just looking at me and laughing, thinking, "Look how busy she is and how that's all she's doing." Now, there may be some truth to that, but I still think he's throwing darts because if all of that had gone as planned, the busyness wasn't really that much.  It was the problems thrown in to the situations that made them bad.

Satan throws his darts, but I decided on the way home yesterday that Satan couldn't hurt me with his darts, just as long as I kept my Armor of God on. If I took it off, that was when I would be hurt by his evil deeds.  My Armor stayed strong!  Satan was defeated!  Praise the Lord! And today is a new day!

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Ephesians 6:10-18