A Flood Of Disappointment

Disappointment rained on my family with the force of the thunderstorm battering our house. Sounds like an intriguing first line for a manuscript, doesn’t it? Unfortunately this time it’s all too true.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a church home, been nearly as long since we’ve found one that we truly liked, but last week, we tried a new one. I very much enjoyed the sermon, liked what I saw of the leaders and the music team. We left last week planning to give the church a chance. With the passing of the last seven days our anticipation grew and I found myself looking forward to returning.

I also found myself fighting my own feelings. You see, this church is a cowboy church. Nothing wrong there. It’s one of the reasons we tried it. Okay, it’s the main reason we tried it. But temptation was staring me in the face with every hour that brought me closer to today. The church is having a bull bash this afternoon. They’re going to ride bulls and well…rodeo.

Cute Little Cowboy

I like rodeos. I really do. I want to go. Only I don’t want my children getting involved with rodeo. For sure, I don’t want them riding bulls. And if I take them to such a thing…I’m encouraging it.

So for a week I’ve sat on a teeter totter, leaning one way, then another. Go. Don’t go. For me, I want to go. For them I want to stay far away. I finally settled on going to church and making the decision there, fully expecting to stay.

Then this morning arrived. Overcast and dreary. The question of the day: will they cancel the bull bash? But no worries, we’re still going to church. Never mind that there’s a river pouring over my house or that thunder is crashing loud enough to rattle the windows. That’s what windshield wipers are for. Who cares about wet feet?

Actually, I do. But that’s a whole different plot line.

 Then illness struck. A hypoglycemia attack that landed me with a sick child and washed all our plans away.

Is this how my heroine’s feel when I wipe away what they’ve been looking forward to? Is it how my hero feels when I kill off his herd of cattle with some catastrophe? At least we all know that all of their troubles will work out in the end. After all, who ever heard of a happily ever after that didn’t?

And just as all that works out in my manuscripts, I am sure, this too will end on a happy note. It just may not be the one I wanted.