Today.

Today like, all other days, had its ups and downs.

Today at lunch, I let some kids sit at our lunch table because someone kicked them out of their table.  That’s an up, I guess. I felt pretty good, even though some people at our table didn’t like that they were sitting with us.

I got home today and started playing video games with the mentality that “I’ll do my homework later.” Up.

We had a concert today. Orchestra concert. We did rather well. Had a swell time. Up.

On the way home, my aunt made a left going into where McDonald’s is, across from Arco, probably thinking there’s a road going through. “Oh,” she said. “There’s no road.” Then she went forward for a second or two, then took a right.

Into a ditch.

Triple down.

My cousin, his friend and I got out to try to push it out of the mud it was stuck in while my aunt tried to back out. No luck.

I went across the street to ask someone for help. We spent 15 minutes  trying to find somewhere to hook his rope into. We found a place where the spare tire goes. There’s a latch in the compartment. Meanwhile, someone from Les Schwab stopped in. As well as a friend from school who also happened to be at the concert and was stopping by McDonald’s.

He took the first guy’s  “wimpy V6” SUV and tried to pull it out while Mr. Schwab put the car in reverse and tried to back out. The rope snapped.

Next we tried under the rear bumper. The bumper warped. A lot. We had to stop.

Instead of cursing God, though, I praised him. I thanked him for these peoples’ hospitality while my patience wore thin. I thought about reasons maybe why this happened. Then it struck me.

God was testing me. Was he? I think he was, in a way. Testing my faith. Wondering if I would curse Him in dire times. Or to call out to Him as a request or as a praise.

My mom arrived on the scene, frantic. I calmed her down and told her nothing was wrong.

We called a tow truck (thank God for Meridan Towing) that pulled us out in five minutes. That was an hour after we fell in.

As my mom was taking me home, I thought about how I would have to give excuses to my teachers tomorrow, telling them why I hadn’t finished my homework.

Then I thought of something else. Maybe God’s telling me, “Get off your sorry behind and quit procrastinating.”

Maybe this was a reward for being hospitable toward those  two kids who had come to our lunch table today.

Because nothing is a coincidence. Everything happens for a reason.

I don’t know. Things are complicated, man.