Do You Need a Popsicle?

I am once again breaking the "be careful about blogging about your job" rule.  Sometimes a little reflection is a good thing.


Tuesday was a long day.  Not a bad day, just a long day.  I worked until 2:00, raced my child to the doctor for a physical, dropped him back off at grandma's, and headed back to school to prepare for a board meeting.  I finished about 6:15 and gathered my things to head into town for the 7:00 meeting.

I saw that I had a little extra time before the meeting and realized that it had been a while since I had watered the plants for our first grade teacher.  She heads out of state for the summer, so we try to keep her greenery alive while she is gone.  I don't think she knows what an incredibly black thumb I have, but I am fairly sure I have already had one plant fatality.  The sad thing is, compared to my previous plant records, that really is pretty good.

Anyway....I successfully watered the plants, and headed down the hallway to check to make sure all lights were off before I left.  The next thing I knew I was flying/sliding/half-falling down the hallway.  There was water all over the floor.

I never actually hit the ground, but I am fairly sure that if my gracefulness was caught on the security cameras, I might be eligible for $10,000 from Funniest Home Videos.

I carefully retraced my steps and entered the elementary bathroom. Sure enough, there was a toilet running and a nice little sprinkler effect was occurring behind the toilet.

Herein lies a problem for me.  I have had a fair amount of training in teaching, discipline, special education, school law, and curriculum.  Toilets shooting out water? Not so much.

I called one of our board members to let him know that I may be cutting time very close to get to the board meeting. He, of course, said he would come help in a moments notice if I needed him to.  That answer would have been a resounding "YES!", except I knew there was another guy in the building who would be willing to help me out (not that I am implying that a girl couldn't take care of a toilet shooting out water, but unfortunately THIS girl is not that girl. However, by the end of the school year, I might be!).

I headed over to the high school hallway where there was a family working on a huge locker painting project. I could go on and on about this family, but let me just say that they are amazing, and I aspire to be servants like they are.  This school dad, who had been working tirelessly in unairconditioned situations all day long, immediately dropped what he was doing to come help me.  Sure enough, he found the problem, turned off the water, and then spent his precious work time on his hands and knees helping me mop up all of the water.

After we got everything taken care of, I gathered up my stuff, and walked out of the building all sweaty and dirty from the clean-up. The board member I had called previously was just walking in....carrying two popsicles. "Do you need a popsicle? I thought maybe you could use one," he said. Part of me chuckled inside, and part of me nearly teared up.

My response, "I would love one!"

Seriously, it was just what I needed in that moment.  It made my day.

Here is what I realized:

There have been many times this summer when I have thought that I am in over my head with new responsibilities at school.

But each time, I am taken care of.

If I had not needed to come back to school to get ready for the board meeting, I never would have discovered the water issue.

If I had not remembered to water the plants, I never would have discovered the water issue.

If I had not decided I needed to check the lights and grab a water bottle before I left, I would have walked out in a different direction, and never would have discovered the water issue. 

I truly do not believe that those things were all just "coincidences".

Had we not found the water issue until morning, we would have had water all over the elementary hallway and inside a classroom that just had brand new carpet installed.

To top that, I had two people more than willing to drop what they were doing to help out if needed...and needed they were.

God's got this.  He always does.

And sometimes he sends angels who are covered in paint and carrying popsicles.