Refocusing

Today I left for the Colorado Christian Writers Conference. One of the things I volunteered for was picking up folks at the airport. Which was an exercise in frustration. All the lots were full, and so I went to the exit to find out where I could park, and the attendant charged me! I paid to NOT park! I was so mad. I let out a string of bad words I haven't said in a long time and this poor attendant looked at me and said, "You still have to pay."

I ended up finding another parking area and parked. Of course, my mean treatment of this guy bit me real quick. Some guy was stuck at the gate and he decided to take the opportunity to yell at me and curse me because apparently, the gate not working was somehow my fault (not).

Sometimes we do and say things that we regret. I felt bad the minute I left the parking area. So, to the guy at the parking area I yelled at, even though I know he was just following the rules, I'm sorry you had to deal with my temper. I'd been keeping it in check, but the stress of everything in my life just built up and unfortunately, I let it out on you. That's no excuse, and I'm sorry.

Today ended up being a day where a lot of things went wrong. But you know, I spent so much time focusing on them that I failed to see a lot of the good things.

So, because I obviously need an attitude adjustment and I need to refocus, I want to share the best thing that happened to me today. We're up in the mountains at a beautiful retreat center. Wildlife are everywhere. As I pulled in to the conference center, a group of elk stood in the road. I stopped and waited. They just stood, looking at the cars. I sat, looking at them. One of them, a little male with just little horn nubs, came right up to my car. He sniffed my hood and wasn't impressed. But he wanted a closer look, so he came right up to my driver's side window and sniffed there. We stared at each other for a few seconds. It was the coolest moment ever. Almost as though God was using one of His other creatures to say, "Hey," taking a moment to glimpse into my life and remind me to slow down and take notice of all the wonders around me.

I only wish I'd taken a picture.