I'm not

perfect...

"It won't close!" she said in complete disbelief as she pressed the button repeatedly.

"Try it from inside," Ann suggested.

She grabbed her keys and walked into the garage where she pressed the button. "That stupid flashing light," she said under her breath. "What is going on here?"

She walked back to the car, ignoring the cold drizzle and grabbed the cellphone. She sat in the car and watched tiny drops of moisture accumulate on the window as the phone rang repeatedly at her dad's workplace. "No one answered," she grumbled, marching back to the garage.

This time, Ann and Jean followed as they saw no hope of getting to school on time. "I'll try Mom," she said, dialing another number.

She counted the rings but after awhile realized her mom hadn't made it to work yet. "I'll try Bob," she said, marching resolutely to the next door neighbor's house.

After all, his car was in the driveway--it stood to reason that he'd be home. She rang the doorbell twice and then grumbled to herself as she headed back to the car. "Go into the house," she ordered her sisters.

It was five 'til eight and Jean had to be at school at eight. There was no chance of that happening. She tried her dad's number again and sighed with relief when the phone rang. "May I please speak with William _______?" she said politely.

"Jus' a minute," the man on the other end replied.

"Hello?"

"Daddy? The garage door is broke."

"Oh no. What's happening?"

"Well," she explained, "it went up and i pulled out of the garage, but now it won't go down again."

Her dad went through a list of things that could be wrong and none of the solutions worked. "I'll be there in a few minutes," he said.

She nodded her head even though he couldn't see it. On a whim, she pressed the garage door button after she'd hung up the phone. Unfortunately, it went down. "What?!" she screeched. "Ann! Jean! Go out the front door!"

And so, they proceeded to school only after leaving a note for their dad so he would know what had happened. "That garage door..." she muttered under her breath.

Once they had arrived at the Jr. High, they all went inside. Both Ann and her older sister had been aides for the secretary, so they knew she would believe them. "We had garage door problems," she said upon entering the office.

Mrs. Moore's eyes widened. "That's an original excuse."

She explained what had occurred and, thankfully, Jean was sent to class but was not considered tardy.

***

*grins* I wanted to try that. It was kind of fun and makes me feel a lot better about this morning. I was kind of having a rotten day. I got into school and complained to Merlin who listened sypathetically. Today is awfully gloomy and nasty. I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere.

Last night I prayed all the way to church and all the way back. I'm really getting into the habit of having actual conversations with God whenever I get a chance to. I enjoy it so much! Of course, then he usually points out things I should do...not always a fun thing. However, that's what a father is supposed to do--isn't it? So, I went through and prayed for people and then basically started talking out loud. I was actually having a conversation. You know the great part? I could hear what he was saying back. Maybe it's because it was so quiet...maybe it's because I had unburdened myself before him. It was just a whole lot easier to hear what he was saying. I loved it. My favorite song is Avalon's Can't Live a Day. The chorus of the song says, there's no night and there's no morning without your loving arms to hold me, you're the heartbeat of all I do, I can't live a day without you. And it's so true! Even when I'm having garage door problems...he's still there, holding my hand.

just

forgiven...