The Gospel, Beginning and End

This has been a roller coaster of a day. I was so tired this morning, but Michaela coaxed me out of bed so I could get them to Sunday School. Worship was convicting.

As I sat there listening to the sermon, and then participating in worship, I knew I needed to ask Mike for forgiveness. Being humble? That doesn't come easy, especially when you are a particularly prideful person. 

We went out to eat and headed back to church for Michaela's piano recital. She was the fifth performer from the end because she is one of the older students. There are twin girls who are several years older, as well as a young man who is sixteen or seventeen. The three of them are phenomenal pianists. Michaela had practiced her piece a hundred times and was ready. She did very well, and at the end there is a dramatic chord combo...and she missed it. She played it again, but the same wrong notes. She looked at her teacher and shook her head, and I wasn't sure what they were conveying to one another, but from where I sat, the expression on her face was so hard to look at, as a parent. She looked crushed, as though the piano had betrayed her, it had rearranged its keys on her and played a cruel joke. She stood up, took a bow, and headed back to the seat. She received many compliments, and handled the whole thing well, but she was hurting, so I was hurting. 

We headed home and my head, which had been pounding for a while, got worse. It felt like if someone had looked at me, he would have literally seen my head getting bigger and smaller and bigger and smaller. I took a Benadryl and some ibuprofen (on top of the headache, I was so sore) and felt a little sick. I had to lie down. Mike and Michaela went to her softball practice, got home pretty late with some pizza, and Mike finished putting Christian's bed together. Then he had to dash back out for a meeting with a friend. 

I've taken some more ibuprofen and am trying to decide whether or not to do my video. I don't want to make myself sick. But...maybe I just need to push through the soreness? I don't know. I am also watching the baseball game, which has been like a roller coaster itself! It has been on for almost four hours and it's only the eighth inning!! And the commentators are driving me insane with their heavy favoritism of the other team. It's as nauseating as my headache was earlier. 

At the end of the day, I come back to my number seven from the list the other night: the Gospel is the only thing that does not fail me, ever. And that is what I am clinging to as I get ready for bed tonight, and as I wake up to face the day tomorrow.