A Lunch Hour Avalanche

So, Wednesday before lunch I met with about 50 other people on the courthouse lawn to be photographed in honor of Child Abuse Awareness Month.  We all gathered from many different agencies, all in support of children.  It was a happy moment for me to be included.

I left there and went to the post office to check the work and personal mail boxes – I’m expecting a certified mail receipt today.   There it was signifying that there were divorce papers signed, returned and non-contested waiting for me.  I was surprised at how many feelings were missing – am I numb ?

Upon returning to my car I realize that I am not numb but dumb – I locked my keys inside – obviously my mind is distracted.  No problem, I went back in and found a very nice locksmith in the phone book who was at my side within 10 minutes.  $35.00 and I was back on the road.

Next stop, the office bank deposit in which I had trouble navigating the drive through!  What? Who has trouble with this? Really? I was close enough to the left to handle the dispenser without issue but how on Earth did I get my right side messed up and tire hung up against the curb.  I got out without damage to my car and back on the road I said a prayer

“Lord, something is wrong in my world today please get me back to the office safely I pray because I’m having issues today.”

Then, there on the bridge as I drove back to the office was a young man standing on the rail holding onto a sign with a policeman standing on the road as other police cars were blocking off the bridge from both directions.  I was driving slowly in the small amount of traffic between the road blocks – what timing….. my heart just stopped.  I immediately began to pray OUTLOUD for this terrified young man.  I begged God to get him down, I begged God to get him someone to talk to, I begged God to rescue him from jumping off that bridge – I did not stop.  I prayed for each policeman on the scene re-directing traffic in both directions.

I made it back to work – and was depleted and exhausted.  There we were, so many of us employed at agencies in this city to help children – and less than a mile away within the same hour a young man was on the brink of life.

I sat at my desk and prayed again for him and the policemen around him, for God to do crowd control and change the boy’s mind.

I called the city police department to check on him – the dispatcher said that all is well and the boy is fine.  Then I said a prayer of thanksgiving that God spared his life – but please put someone in his life for him to talk to and the clarity to figure things out and to get help.

What a scary lunch hour.