Tuesday, February 15, 2011

life lessons in the midst of a crumpled day

last week in the midst of my infamous septic tank issues
i was schooled on attitudes & complaining.
not by choice, mind you

i was sitting in my car, behind the mail carrier,
waiting for her to put the mail in my mailbox before i could pull in.
i was in a major hurry-
the septic boys were due any minute & i had to color my rapidly increasing grey roots
before they shut my water off. again.

i knew i should receive my order from jones design company at any time.
well as fate would have it, it was a heavy mail day.
then i see her pull out a cardboard mailer.
yay me. my order had arrived.
then i watch in horror as she bends and folds
said heavy thick cardboard mailer.
i am trying to put my car in park & hop out as quickly as i can.
i ripped open my mailer 
&
sure nuf, my prints were all bent up.
as she circled the culdesac, i walked over & ranted something along the lines of~
excuse me ma'am
i'm not usually this rude
but i am very frustrated at how you crammed this into my box
& ruined my purchase.
to which she replied something along the lines of~
oh i'm so sorry, it didn't have a 'dont bend' sticker so i didn't know.

oh.my.word.
i could have spit bullets.


now
looking at my image
( because i photographed the evidence for you. duh)
it doesn't look all that bad
but my two prints spent 48 hours under 758 pounds of heavy books
still to be bent up & creased

 

incidentally one of the prints features one of my favorite verses. 
the scripture is from matthew. 
jesus is speaking to his disciples in the famous sermon on the mount.
he calls them to be different.
 he gives them instructions.
&
he calls them to shine.





the next day i was looking at my new prints
& feeling all disappointed that they were still bent up
& not perfect.

i like life when it's all perfect.
don't you?
when everything is where it should be
no one is sad or sick
things are ironed, crisp, bleached & neatly folded.
it sure is easy to be all bright & shiny then.
when life is good.
it's much harder to be all bright & shiny
when life is not perfect.
the test results were positive
your paycheck was eaten up with repair bills
he left
the car won't start
and the laundry isn't even clean,much less crisp & ironed

but that's just it
in those times
that is when it matters.
that's when people are really watching.
what's on the inside sure does come out when life threatens to take you out.

i want to shine
not just on the rare perfect days
but all of 'em

so i decided i'll frame my crumpled image
it will be a constant reminder to me to shine.
to choose to shine
even in the midst of a crumpled day.



oh & guess what my mail looked like the next day.....


that's alright usps mail carrier lady person
no problem
me & my crumbled life lesson 
we're both a.o.k.

we're shining!


matthew 5.14-16
You are the light of the world. 
A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 
In the same way, 
let your light shine before others, 
that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.



**addendum. 
i feel really bad. i have had a few people comment about contacting the company that i purchased the merchandise from. she is one of my favorite bloggers. i'm smitten with her creations.
i didn't want this to look bad on her part or give her any bad exposure.
my intentions were to share her shop with you and encourage you to check out all her talent!
 even though it didn't have a "don't bend" sticker on the envelope, it was mailed in a thick heavy cardboard mailer. i have never been a mail carrier but i would assume if someone packaged something in a thick heavy cardboard mailer, it would be assumed that it shouldn't be bent.
much less folded in half  to fit into an already full mailbox. 
but what do i know.
anyway....i just wanted to apologize as i never meant to give bad publicity to jones design.
& besides i would have missed my little life lesson had it arrived pristine :)

28 comments:

{A*very} Blessed Life said...

So beautiful Paige. I like your idea of framing the bent version of your beautiful image. I know you must have seen Edie's post from yesterday, or maybe you haven't yet. You two just have to be kindred spirits because she posted on a similar topic yesterday. I draw so much inspiration from both of you and I am grateful for your honesty and beautiful hearts. Blessings to you Miss Paige. You do shine your light always.

Privet and Holly said...

I love Emily's
prints and no
surprise that
this one would
speak to you : )
Your shift in
mindset about
perfection is,
well, perfect!!
Have a blessed
day, Paige!
xx Suzanne

Alison Agnew said...

some days i'm more bent up and crumpled than others...but the print still looks lovely.

thanks for sharing your heart.

blessings,

alison

Kerri said...

Beautiful Paige. How ironic that that the item is a piece of scrripture~surely a lesson to be learned here. However, I have my own not so nice comments about the post office. I received a package from Hometown Girl just this week and do you know where the package was? Lying in the snow in front of my mailbox. And no, it was not too big to put in my box. You have every right to be upset.
Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Sweet Grace Farms said...

Shine on! It's what you do best!!

traci said...

that is frustrating. i would have done the same thing. it's amazing how God steps in and then shows us how to react instead. very inspiring.

Dori said...

Great Great. Thanks so much!

Bravehearted Beauty {formerly LLH Designs} said...

This post is perfection...even in its crumpledness! Love it, and can so relate to your heart.

Something you wrote reminded me of this Proverb: "Out of the heart, the mouth speaks." Too true!

Grace and peace to you in the crumpled moments, my friend!

Xo,
Linsey

Dana said...

It's the crumpled moments that make us appreciate the nice neat ones! Wonderful sweet thoughts here, as always!

Shawn Seay said...

You have no idea how much I needed to read this post this morning. I guess God did thought. Thanks, Paige. Have a glorious day:-)

Val said...

I truly love this post!!

Anita said...

Yowsa. The best lessons are not the easiest ones for sure. Otherwise, people would not pay attention to the lessons. Good for you for taking a deep breath and regrouping. (And maybe you should send a quick email to the person who send you the prints, letting them know about the Do Not Bend sticker. Seems like an easy fix for the future.)

Kat said...

Paige, well said, my sweet friend!

Kelli said...

Don't you love how God can teach us big lessons in little things. Keep shining!

Lemonade Makin' Mama said...

I don't know many lights that shine brighter than you Paige. This entire post was an awesome reminder to us perfection loving (cough-me) peeps. Thanks for sharing in such a visual way!!

Love ya!
Sasha

Seawashed said...

I understand what you are saying and the life lesson you were learning BUT I am GLAD you said something to the mail carrier. Our mail always comes torn and bent and as if they tied it to the back of the mail truck and dragged it all day! Why don't people care anymore. People just doing there job to get their paycheck, but not caring about what they are doing? Instead of complaining it has caused me to pay attention more to what I do and to care about others in everything. I'm not saying I am Miss Caring, but I am trying, and I try even harder when I experience the unkindness of others.

I'm sorry your prints got bent. Wishing you better days this week...and hopefully crisp mail. tee hee

Kristin said...

Well my friend you do SHINE!
In eating dinner last night what kept going through my mind is that your family means the world to me. You could have had dinner just you and your family but you had me there on Valentines of all days. I love how each of your girls are so real. I loved laughing. But make no mistake you and your family SHINE! Each of you are a light of the world. I never leave you without feeling your compassion towards another or feeling like God is right there with us, just because he and well smiles are always a part of who you are. So much more to say but know you SHINE brillaintly.

Sheri said...

My favorite post yet of yours. I love it and feel ya. I'm working on the same thing here. You have such a way to say EVERYTHING - love love love your blog. Thanks so much for sharing.

Anonymous said...

love this.

Kimberly said...

I love visiting your blog ... even in the midst of a crumbled day. Thank you!

Debra said...

This would have bothered me too. Your mail carrier just seemed to be lacking in common sense - which doesn't seem too common these days! -Especially since you were sitting right behind her! I must give a shout out to our wonderful mail carrier - she is a gem. I sure hope they don't transfer her anytime soon.

I love your print- I will go look @ the Jones Design website today to see what else they have. I can't wait to see!

just ask beth said...

Write that bible verse on a beautiful piece of paper and put in the Mailbox for her... Mail Carriers can be rude for sure, we live on a semi circle street filled with children playing, on the streets skateboards etc. and we have 3 slow down children playing and our MC guns it from house to house!!

GLENDA CHILDERS said...

I love it that you are framing your crumpled print . . . a beautiful piece with a little extra life lesson . . . straight from our Father's heart to yours. Good job, listening.

Fondly,
Glenda

B. said...

I say give that mail lady a sweet little gift and really surprise the Socks off her.

Henley on the Horn said...

I love how you learned a lesson from someone else's mistake. God does that for us all of the time, doesn't He? I can't wait to check out Jones Design!

Sarah K said...

Our "lovely" mail carrier also sees how much he can shove into our mailbox. A few weeks ago he shoved an important document in a cardboard mailer with a big DO NOT BEND on it, into our teeny tiny apartment standard mailbox. I'm glad my husband took it out, since I would've been near hysterical had I found it in the mailbox all bent up. At least yours came with a life lesson.

Shelley said...

What a perfect day to read your life lesson message! Thank you for your beautifully spoken words! Have a great day!

Cathy M~(checkitoff) said...

what a great lesson in this! I just joined a Bible study group and the entire six weeks is devoted to the Sermon on the Mount. The book is called Living Your Life as a Beautiful Offering by Angela Thomas. This post was so timely for me!! hugs, Cathy