I fall down, He lifts me up

     Last night as I finally turned off the closet light (which has rather become my workplace) I felt beaten, desperate, and miserable. All week I had worked on this paper and I had tried and tried to get it right but for some reason my brain had been refusing to cooperate. As I climbed into bed I prayed that God would help me to do better next week. I fell asleep like that, praying that I would make it through this coming week, praying that I would convince myself to enjoy the work. I woke up the morning to Moonchild telling me "It's 7:06!" and I was horrified. How could that possibly be? I had set my alarm for 6:00 last night, I hadn't pressed the snooze button this morning, I distinctly remembered pulling back the covers so I could get up and get ready. I sprang up with all haste, grabbed the clothes that I had been planning on wearing to Church, and called down the stairs to my brother to be sure that he wouldn't leave me behind. He usually left at 7:07 and I had in the past been able to get myself out the door in one minute. Little did I know that he had left two minutes earlier than he usually did and my calling had been in vein. I rushed into my dress, grabbed my hairpins, ran into the laundry room to grab my coat and shoes... and he was gone. I would be lying if I told you that I didn't feel rather like crying. The frustration from the night before was still fogging up every nick and cranny of my brain and it was rather early in the morning. I sat down on the bottom step of the stairs and sulked. And sulked... and sulked. Finally I decided that since I had time I would finish doing my hair.
     As I headed out the door with two of my sisters and my parents I warned them of what was to come "I think" I said "That I probably won't be a very pleasant person today. I apologize in advance."
     All the way through the singing I was completely miserable. I was annoying even myself. During the greeting time my friend came up to me, gave me a hug, and told me that she needed to talk to me after the service. I was terribly frightened that I'd done something to offend her (I'm not known for being particularly good in my people skills and often find myself saying things that are utterly tactless). As the service went on I relaxed a little, my heart warmed by the story that the pastor was sharing with his congregation. I started to feel as though perhaps the world wasn't all bad. At the end of the service I walked against the flow of the people who were all rushing out the doors and down the stairs to the fellowship hall (gym) I was headed up the aisle towards my friend, worrying about what I could have possibly done this time.
     I greeted my friend with a smile that I'd pushed to the surface of my face and hoped for the best. Her boyfriend, pardon me, fiance, told her that he'd catch up with her afterwards. I gave my friend a hug and we started walking towards the door that everyone else was headed for. What came next was an unexpected and wonderful surprise. Just as we had reached the last pew she turned to me and said "Would you please be my maid of honor?"
     My hands flew to my face and I'm afraid that I almost knocked her over with a hug. Now, you have to understand that I wasn't at church last week, and therefore not only was I completely shocked at the question but I also had no idea that the two had gotten engaged. I'm embarrassed to say that I could not hold back a rather unladylike squeal as I told her how happy I was for her and how of course, I would be honored her maid of honor (pun intended). I went with her when she went to talk to the pastor about setting a date and then remembered that I had a few other things that needed to be done.
   As I walked towards the building where the high-schoolers meet after church for a lesson that is directed towards us I realized that God had sent that moment to remind me that no matter how little faith I have in myself, and no matter how poorly I think of myself he will always be there to pull be back up out of my imperfection to tell me how much he loves me. And while sometimes he does this through solitary walks or quite contemplation,  at other times, like this morning, he does it by showing you that you've been important enough to someone else that they want to honor you with being part of one of the most important moments of their life. My day had gone from the worst to the best in a matter of hours and I'm pleased to report that it still seems to be humming along quite nicely.