Wednesday could have been better.

Wednesday was a day!!

It really started pretty well.  I was in a good mood, things were going fantastic. I checked off one more task to getting one step closer to closing a chapter in need of closing.  We were on track for a very good day.

Casey called at lunchtime, absolutely in tears.  There was some sort of friend drama at recess, and she was not in a good place, let's say.  I drove up to school and let her cry herself out on my shoulder.  We talked things out, got her pulled back together, and sent her back to class.

After school, we had a track meet.  It started alright with both kids (Casey and Alicia) doing well in their respective ballkick events.  And then the running events started...

I was down at the finish line when Alicia's race started, so I wasn't where all the action was.  But, halfway down the track, she fell down, and limped off the track in tears.  I rushed over to where she was and took over from the coach.  She'd fallen pretty hard and was in some pain, but after calming down, I asked her if she was okay.  Mostly, I was worried about if she was embarrassed that she had fallen.  "I'm not crying because I'm embarrassed.  I'm just disappointed that I couldn't finish."  Life lessons from my daughter.  I thought about that more in the day that followed, and I liked her attitude.  It's not so important whether you win or lose the race.  But it matters that you finish.

Following the race, three girls, at different times, came up to us and said that they saw another girl push Alicia down... which made the whole thing even sadder.  I wasn't mad at the kid... they're kids and they're all learning.  It was just sad that it happened.  But it started me being all emotional for my kid...  Thank goodness for sunglasses.

Next came Casey's race.  And really, what was with this day??

Casey was running the 75m dash...  Again, I was near the finish line, waiting for her when the race began.  Partway down, her shoe somehow came off, and she fell down too!  What the heck?  Gravity and my offspring are not friends!  But I was very proud of her.  Casey is VERY self-conscious.  She came in last during her race the week before and she was so upset.  Not because she was last, but because she was sure that people were watching her and talking about her.  It's been a series of life lessons for her to learn that fewer people are thinking about her than she thinks there are... and also... that the people who are?  Don't matter.  (Her momma is learning the same lesson, I think.)

In any case, I knew that she was going to be embarrassed that she had fallen and that, because of that, she was going to come in last.  But, she was a trooper... even knowing that she would be last, she got up, slipped her shoe back on, and ran the rest of the way to the finish line.  REALLY proud of her for finishing.

So my mom instincts were on hyperdrive.  But as I rushed to the finish line to "fix it," I noticed a dad on the other side of the track.  He was the father of another child at the meet.  From another school.  No investment in my kid at all...  but he was there, yelling out encouragement to her to keep going, that it was okay, that she was doing great.  This meant a really lot lot lot to this mom.

I actually knew him, though I don't know that he knows me or my child.  He's the pastor at our church, which is pretty large.  While he might recognize me as a member of his church, I'm pretty sure he didn't know the child he was cheering on was one of his flock.

I was pretty much an emotional wreck after this.  I'm not sure why... I think it was just the day's events all piled up on top of each other.  Maybe a healthy dose of hormones making it all worse.

When I came home, I wrote an email to my pastor, and basically cried all over his inbox, thanking him for what he'd done for my kid, for me.  I don't know if Casey noticed it, but I did.  I felt sorta bad afterwards for crying all over his inbox... until I got his reply.

p.s. my daughter alex just came in and said, Dad...are you crying? I told her yes, and I read her your email...just wanted you to know how incredible you are for sending this encouragement to me, and how incredible Jesus is...

I guess sometimes your bad day can turn out for good.