No Good, Very Bad Day

They say bad luck happens in sets of three.

Today my senior classmates were assigned, a ritual I could not partake in.

There was excitement on campus and nerves while seniors waited for regional assignment envelopes to be passed out shortly after 5pm. While I am eager to hear where they will be sent and joyful for the adventures that await them, it's hard to know that I'm missing out on this rite. When it bothers me, I shrug and move on...until someone asks me where I'm hoping to be assigned and I must explain that abiguity and somewhat parallel adventure of not receiving a restriction. People ask because they care and because their curious, but on a bad day it feels like salt on a wound.

Some cried, some rejoiced and most said, "Okay. It's a clue, but I still won't know what that means for a few more weeks."

Today my car wouldn't start.

This happens fairly often, but today it made a devastating noise that seemed to say, "We've had a good run, Meta. Some good times, some bad sometimes, some warm times, some cold times. It's time for me to follow the light and find a final resting place. Thanks for the memories." I cried and had her towed out into the cold, blue yonder. It's the end of a era.

Later I went to the repair shop where my worst fears were confirmed. Totalled. I collected my belongings and said goodbye as though she were a beloved at the morgue.

Today my favorite bar caught fire.

Bummer! Matt and I had our third date at Maxwells almost four years ago and have congregated with our friends there ever since. The Thursday night wing and pint special has created a gathering ground for loved ones and friends. We save quarters for the meters. The servers stopped carding us long ago and have known what to bring us without asking.

I had to smile as people emailed and called to ask if I'd heard all day long. Is it a good thing that so many people think of me when they think of that bar?? But it's Cheers - everyone knows our names and plenty of laughter and love have been born there. Bummer.

But...Rejoice!

The good news? Today is over. I finished the day surrounded by friends and classmates celebrating regional assignments, those willing to give me rides here and there. Humor helps and hope reminds that these messes are just today. The temperature is expected to rise and the sun will be out tomorrow. Ordination, reliable transportation and a new Cheers are destined to be a part of days to come.

A bad day is just a day. There was grace in the conversations, prayers and actions of today. It's good to know that people care enough to ask about where I'll be next year, if I need a ride and where we'll meet up on Thursday now that Maxwells is down for the count. It is good to know that God is at work in transitions, they dying and the rising, the envelopes and the phone calls.

Keep seniors in your prayers! They know their regions, but must wait until early March to hear about their synods.