One day they had a guest who came from the far, far, far away land of Quebec. She was twinned to the youngest of the sleepy and un-talkative teens in an exchange program called SEVAC.
They had lots of fun together with the french immersion grade 7 class, from here, and the English immersion grade 7 class, from there.
They hiked mountain tops, swam in lakes, kayaked across great distances, shopped and ate spaghetti together. It was an amazing time.
On the last day, the Mom wanted to make a really special breakfast for the girls. Since the girls didn't have to be at school until 9:15am, the Mom thought she would have plenty of time to prepare a special send-off meal. She got up early and put bacon in the oven. She heated up some biscuits and began to scramble the eggs.
"Breakfast is almost ready! Come on down." Then she went back downstairs to the kitchen to cook the eggs. She wanted to make sure the exchange student had her belly full before the long trip home to the far, far, far away land of Quebec.
At 7:35am the exchange student was the first to walk into the kitchen. She seemed a little confused and began to point to her watch.
"We mussst bee... uh... hat school hat 7:45," she said in her cute french accent.
"No dear, 9:15. You still have lots of time," and she showed the girl the time on the official letter from the school.
"Ah, no," she said shyly, and then very quietly, "de flight time was changed, our teachers told us." The Mom panicked, not like June Cleaver, and ran up the stairs to double check with her daughter. Perhaps there was a mis-communication in language? She hoped.
"DID THE TIME CHANGE?" the Mom yelled above her daughter, who was still fast asleep, and shocked the sleepy girl into consciousness.
"What?" the daughters eyes were half closed as she sat up slowly.
"Did the flight time change for your twin?" The Mom paced nervously beside the bed.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. We have to be at the school at 7:45am."
"IT'S 7:40!"
"What!" the daughter bolted out of bed and got dressed in a flurry of chaos as the Mom ran back downstairs, grabbed the lunch she made for the Quebec student, and made sure she put it in her bag. The bag was quickly weighed and set at the front door. Then, the school van arrived at 7:50am, perhaps there were a few more parents who didn't receive the news on time?
"I'm late!" the daughter said and just the like the rabbit out of Alice in Wonderland, she darted down the stairs, through the hall and out the door to the awaiting van.
"At least I packed an extra sandwich for the long haul home to Quebec." The Mom thought as she watch the van, with her children and the exchange student in it, drive away. She turned back to the kitchen to clean up the untouched cold breakfast.
"My daughter has no lunch!" the Mom realized, and briefly toyed with the idea of bringing her daughter a lunch, but then changed her mind, "She has to learn!" that would be the consequences of the daughters forgetfulness, and the Mom hoped, that this forced fasting would help in future communications.
How do you prepare for something that seemingly pops out of nowhere? How do we deal with it when it happens accompanied by lots of chaos? And how do we not become anxious and let go of sanity?
Everyrhing has a reason we are told. But, if everything happens for a reason, why didn't the little french girl get her breakfast? And what purpose could God possibly have for not letting her have breakfast? Was it a life lesson in patience for the Mom? A lesson in communication for the daughter? Or was it just a confirmation to the french girl, that all English people are weird and her grandfather was right all along?
I must admit, there are somethings in life that I just don't get. I don't understand why they happen and I just don't see the logic of it. But, I'm told I need to trust. You see if I don't trust. I'm going to start looking like that bunny, hopping all over the place anxiously, and on the verge of a heart attack, all day and every day.
There are somethings that I am in control over, but then at any given moment, that control can be taken away at the blink of an eye. If I fear losing control, I will be anxious all the time... even in those moments that I am in control and have no reason to be uneasy. This is no way to live. Under stress all the time. This sure isn't the way God created us to live.
When life gets chaotic He wants us to turn to Him. We need to trust Him. Sometimes, He's going to ask us to take a rest, and sometimes He's going to ask us to step up to the plate and hit that curve ball right out of the park. With courage and strength... not stress.
Remember, Mr. W. Rabbit did eventually get to his destination, but he was one big furry ball of stress all along his journey.
It doesn't have to be that way.
May you find His peace in the chaos!
Love,
Anuschka
