More funny that "Lenten"

I started this Lenten series of Joy in the Ongoing Journey with the intention of remaining somewhat serious as befits the season, but today finding the spiritual application may be a stretch, but it was ... what word would describe it? Scary, challenging, funny, weird, bizarre, seriously? (You know the seriously spoken with each syllable raised a pitch or two for the full question effect.)

Let me set the scene for you.  I returned home after subbing in a third grade class and a second grade Focus (gifted) class.  It was a good day.  Delighted by the pleasant temperatures and gentle breeze, I decided to hit my porch when I got home since the next week is supposed to be more conducive to an ark than to a respite   in the sunshine.  As I pulled up, one of my neighbors was trying to repair his car window so he sat with the panel off the doors clattering about with tools.  That occasioned a quick chat about do-it-yourself projects. He, too had decided to take advantage of the good weather to accomplish something; in his case it was more than a rest.

Wishing him luck on getting it all back together, I stepped into my apartment and did the double lock as is the habit here in the big city.  I grabbed my new Nook tablet and headed for the porch.  Little hints of spring fragrance touched the air, a few clouds covered the bright sun, and a little breeze made it just pleasantly cool.   I sat down and began to read.  Soon the short night and the long day began to catch up with me, and I set the notebook down and lay my head back.  However, the chair where my legs were propped was a little too high, so I decided to go inside and enjoy my sofa-chaise.  It seemed like a wise decision because my feet and legs were tired after the school day, and I imagined trying to get up from a nap with immovable knees.

I gathered my book and headed for the door.  I put my hand in the handle and ...the door was stuck.  Odd, I thought. It locks from the inside.  So I set the notebook down and tried again to no avail.  It...was... locked!!   Part of me wanted to cry, because I had no idea what I was going to do.  Calling Beth of going to the office for a Master key wouldn't help because the main door was double locked so it would not open to a Master key.  There I was, on my porch with its three and a half  or four foot privacy wall with no key to house or car.  Trying the door several more times and then thinking maybe I could lift up a little or something brought no solution.

A glance at my watch told me the office would close in 20 minutes, so prudence demanded that I get off the porch and hightail it to the office on my poor weary feet with my teaching shoes on.  The only problem with starting that was the privacy wall.  Now it's not all that high, but neither am I.  The flexibility I once had seems to be more than a little diminished, so at first it might as well have been 6 feet high.  However, undaunted I climbed up on the folding wooden chair that was my too high footstool and threw one leg up to the top of the railing  The other one followed and once they were both over, the trip to the ground was pretty much a matter of controlled gravitational pull.. Admittedly, I did not even look around to see who might have been watching.  I did not want to know.

Nor did I know I could walk that fast with the tired legs and dress shoes, but I passed several people in my trek and arrived in plenty of time.  As I attempted to explain my conundrum, they couldn't quite believe it, but once it was clear, the sweet ladies tried to keep straight faces, and then called the guys on the maintenance staff.  I heard, "No, no. She is really locked out - front door and sliding glass door."  Frankly, images of broken glass marked the only solution I could conceive. Word came that the crew was going to see what they could do and in about 20 minutes, Miranda whisked me back to my apartment in the golf cart.  There the guys were standing outside guarding my unlocked front door.  My hero explained that he had to unscrew the lock and fix it because it indeed had fallen down and latched because the internal mechanism was loose.

I am now happily ensconced in my house. Needless to say, I will be a little leery of shutting the  door completely when I go out on the porch and I will probably choose not to use the over the railing exit route any time soon.

I think this may call for using that O'Charley's gift card I have.

Is there any redeeming thought in this, any Lenten reflection?  Probably, but mostly what I reflect on is that once I would have stressed, or gotten mad, or cried or even screamed (well maybe not outside in an apartment complex), but I felt the Lord's calm and it is just another memory and story for the journey.  Thank You, Lord.