I had ten minutes before I had to leave for work today. Plenty of time to print out a final copy of my paper, run next door to turn it in and change clothes. So, I pushed print and set the setting and it started and I went to change and came back and one page of sixteen was done. So I sat down and wrote an e-mail and two pages of sixteen had printed. So I got my jacket out and filled up my water bottle and three pages were done. Down to three minutes before I need to leave and thirteen pages were left to print. 

So I paced. I don’t like being late. Especially to a job. A work study job, yes, but still a job. I sent my printer mental energy and words of encouragement, but it still went at its own very slow pace. Finally the first document, 12 pages, was done. And I was only five minutes late. So the second document started to print, four pages. You know what came out? Paper. Blank paper was being shot across my room by my printer. It was very angry. I might have uttered a few choice words at it in my frustration, but this is no reason to shoot paper out at me. 

I turned off the printer and turned it back on and tried again, seven minutes late. It stopped shooting paper but now was spewing out paper with code all over it – definitely not my New Testament paper. 

So I tried again. Turned off the printer. Turned off the computer and began all over. Ten minutes late. Finally it worked. There are moments in life where you just have to wait. I am not a fan of these moments. I needed my paper. It was due. There was no reason for this delay. 

In small group yesterday we read the Mary and Martha story and talked about permission giving. Sometimes it is okay to leave things undone in order to be with people. Sometimes we won’t be able to give everything our very best. One woman in the group shared that it took her six years of being married with children before she could say, ‘some nights, cheerios is good enough for dinner.’ Some days, it just has to be cheerios. We all want to prepare the seven course meal. We all want to show how capable and productive and creative we are; but, sometimes, cheerios just has to be good enough. Today was definitely a cheerios day.