Pushing through

    Yesterday started out well. I knew I was going to be busy, trying to get the paper sent to print a little early so some of the staff could attend the high school graduation that evening.
    I got up, spent some time in prayer then made it to work by 6:30 a.m. Things went well until after noon then the stressors started hitting one after another...bam, bam, bam!
   Things with the paper, personal issues, a little of everything at once. By mid afternoon I was experiencing a full blown anxiety attack. My chest was hurting, I was dizzy, I was having trouble breathing. I began to wonder if I was going to have to get someone to take me to the hospital.
   At that point I called a time out. A little something I call a time out for prayer. I walked out of my office, went outside to a quiet place, took a minute to take in the beautiful sunny day, and turned it all over to the Lord. I asked him to help me through, give me the strength to do all that needed done and to still my heart and give me peace.
   Was everything perfect after that?  No. In fact a couple more issues popped up. But I was able to deal with them and even laughed by the time the last editorial problem surfaced. And I still managed to get the staff out of the office just a little after 5 p.m.
   Then I came home to a husband finishing up dinner, some relaxing time outside, then going out to get ice cream with my husband and the son who usually thinks he's too cool to go anywhere with me these days. And my adorable little niece made it through her surgery to have tubes in her ears and her adenoid removed with no issues and was excited to hear from me when I called to check on her.
   What could have been a horrible day ended up pretty great. Maybe the Lord didn't make all the issues just stop when I turned to him but he did give me what I needed to push through and come out stronger for it. He does that with big issues too. Sometimes there are long periods of darkness we have to work through in our lives. Things we can't see an end to anywhere in the future. But if we have faith and trust in the Lord, we will make it through and find the light. He's pretty great like that.