What the Lord Taught Me Today

Now that the day is almost over, I have to smile and even laugh at how it went.

This is the day that I print over 400 newsletters on the little laser desktop printer, for our senior mobile home community – 6 pages (3 duplex).

Something made me start when I got up at 6 today. I thought it was because they’ve predicted rain and thunderstorms (which haven’t materialized) and I didn’t want a possible power outage to slow down the printing. Also, it gets hot back in that bedroom where the printer sits.

After the 2^nd batch (I print in batches of 32 sets, because of the output tray size), the “replace toner” light came on. Well, that was a shock. I should have been able to finish today’s run with what I had, based on past performance of that toner. Now I needed one, fast. 

I checked the place I buy it online. I know it takes 2 days for delivery. Even though that is fast, I needed it now and couldn’t justify the additional $20 for overnight shipping.

I spent half an hour online checking the big box stores (Fry’s, Staples, Best Buy, Office Depot/Max, etc.). They either didn’t have a compatible (it’s a Brother) or they expected double what I usually pay. I searched again, this time just putting in the cartridge number and the city. After browsing all the shops that came up (same issues as the big box shops), I found one small shop at the bottom of the list. I called – for delivery, today, before Noon, it would only cost me $8 more than my usual cost. So, I sat and waited for the delivery.

While waiting, I decided to check my emails and get that over with for the day. Suddenly, my cordless mouse wouldn’t work. It’s bottom light was on but no activity. I changed the batteries, thinking they were low. Still nothing. I’ve been working on a laptop this past month or two after my desktop model died. This meant I now had to deal with that flat pad on the laptop – that so-called mouse on that laptop hates me – it really does.

Somehow, in trying to make it go where I needed it to to on the screen, I deleted my quick-print button on my menu bar. Every time I tried to get to Print on the Home menu of Word, it slipped here and there and wouldn’t work with me. I resorted to keyboard commands, and started using CTL-P for printing. That still forced me to play with trying to get the cursor to the little “how many copies” button and suddenly that looked so tiny.

The toner arrived. I changed it. I printed and printed and printed. When I got down to the final 48 copies/sets, I ran out of paper. The extra ream I thought I had in the house wasn’t there, so I put on my street clothes and drove to Walmart for another ream.

I finished the print by 3:30. 

A friend in here who is into computers called me and asked about the mouse. I said it was still not working. He said he’d drive over (he’s only two streets away) and bring me another one. He also mentioned casually that the little USB stick that comes with the mouse might need jiggling. After he hung up, I came back to the PC and jiggled the stick. Mousie woke up! 

Along the way, at each “event,” I tried to keep calm. (I managed somewhat) I tried to avoid tears (I managed except for one weak moment) And, I tried to see the bright side.

In the end, the Lord taught me a few things today. Either he is prepping me for a very rocky road ahead and trying to teach me patience. Or, he’s trying to get me to relax along life’s bumpy path. I prefer to think he’s got the latter in mind, so I will try, more and more, to adjust easily as things happen.

So, I am tracking my toner usage more closely, I am ensuring I have enough paper on hand, and I will do proper mouse-care. I will also keep calm and I am thrilled to say that, for the most part, I did just that today. And I am even more secure in my faith that the Father has my back.

Heavenly Father, I know you were watching every step of today’s tricky day. That knowledge helped me get through it. I don’t know how I could have coped with such a steady stream of odd and unexpected bumps on today’s journey without you and your help. Thank you for the peace that filled my soul and for the help of that supply shop and my neighbor, as well. I will continue to try to be worthy of the trust you place in me.