Fantastic Friday

Everyday when my husband leaves for work, I send him off with a kiss and a word to describe the day. For example: Mondays might be marvelous or magnificent. Thursdays are typically thankful Thursdays. Every Friday when my husband leaves for work, I say, “Have a fantastic Friday!” This parting ritual has become commonplace for us. However, as you will see, some Fridays are more fantastic than others.

One definition of the word fantastic is a deviation from what is normal or expected. That is what this story is about. A fantastic Friday.

The scene: a chilly February day.

The furnace had died unexpectedly the night before so we were all wearing multiple layers to keep from freezing. Regardless, we were still smiling. I sent my husband off to work in our typical fashion and the day began.

The two older girls were happily running around the house in their snow pants- a clothing item typically restricted to outdoor use. A couple of neighbors had graciously brought over space heaters so we were huddling around those and cuddling in blankets… When we weren’t baking something yummy in the oven that is.

Namely cookies…

Baking cookies is one of my favorite past times so even though I don’t need an excuse to bake cookies, I had one that day.

Looking back I can’t recall how many cookies we made exactly, but I know it was a lot. I doubled batches that usually made 4 to 5 dozen cookies and made more than one variety; it was cookie heaven.

I remember feeling pretty light-hearted despite the furnace being out of commission. I was pleased with ourselves for doing what we could to make the most of our heating dilemma. So we couldn’t heat our house in the typical fashion. No big deal! We had come up with a temporary solution by making it a cookie day.

Little did we know the furnace wouldn’t be the only test to present itself in that 24 hour period of time.

While in the process of bringing some cookies out of the oven, I heard the unfortunate sound of rushing water and frantic shouting.

Uh-oh.

Flood Mama! Yep, I could see that much. There was water spraying from the toilet all over the bathroom.

Isn’t it interesting how moments like these seem to happen in slow motion? Is it because you yourself are moving at hyper speeds?

Grab some towels! Ack! I’m calling Dad! Oh no! Put the towels down! Dad! Water everywhere! Turn it off! How do I turn it off?!

It only took a minute or two for the spray to convert to a minor drip, leaving only 6 sopping towels on the ground as evidence of the flood.

What caused the flood?

Our girls had been jumping on the top of the toilet. Not the seat, the tank. Yep. Something had shifted slightly under their weight and though it was minimal, that shifting movement caused the tank to release the water it had been holding inside.

At the time I called my husband, he was enjoying lunch with some of his co-workers. Since he was on his lunch break and relatively close by, he was able to come home and fix the toilet without too much difficulty. That issue aside, we continued to go about the rest of the day. (Oh, don’t worry, his co-workers found another way back to work).

A nail.

…Not a nail that you hammer (at least not on purpose), but rather a nail on the end of your finger. That’s the kind of nail I lost while making cookies. I didn’t notice when it happened and I had no idea if it had fallen into the batter or if it was somewhere on the floor in my kitchen, but I think I shed a couple of figurative tears when I looked down and saw I was missing the tip of my nail.

It didn’t hurt, it just made me feel like the time spent on all those cookies was futile. I couldn’t possibly deliver those cookies to anyone and risk having them find that nail! My cookie reputation (albeit imagined) would be ruined.

My resolve.

I did my best to again make the most of an unpleasant situation. I decided I’d have to be the one to find that nail. I’d nobly eat every last one of those cookies if necessary, but I would make sure no one else’s cookie eating was disrupted by a piece of my DNA disguised as a slivered almond.

A couple of hours later, the cookies were all cooled and waiting for me to begin my search.

Another test.

Yes, I know this post is becoming rather lengthy. It was a long day.

When the hubby pulled into the driveway that evening, he did so slightly faster than his norm. Maybe he was feeling extra hungry after having to work as a plumber through his lunch break. Whatever the reason, that extra burst of speed at that exact moment caused him to come into the house shaking his head and chuckling. What a fantastic day! A rock had punctured his tire as he was pulling in.

Thankfully, we were still able to see a silver lining: if we had to have a flat tire, we couldn’t think of a more convenient location than in our very own driveway!

The last straw.

Unfortunately, as my valiant spouse went out to fix the tire, the jack he used to raise up the car broke …as did the camel’s back.

So many tests in such a short amount of time. We had done well up to that point, but we were ready for this particularly fantastic day to be over.

Tender mercy.

As each day eventually does, this one did of course come to a close, but not before first finding a piece of a nail hidden in a delicious morsel of cookie.

One of the best feelings EVER.

The confirming feeling that Heavenly Father knows and loves you.

He knew how important it was for me to find that nail. When I found it, I praised Him. I felt incredibly blessed and loved. It had been a fantastic Friday for sure. There were moments of chaos and sheer bewilderment, but God had been with us through it all.

Hammering it home.

The nail I lost may not have been the kind of nail that is hammered, but there were nails hammered into the hands and feet of our Savior. Let us make sure that the markings of those nails are not lost to us.

The invitation found in scriptural accounts (see also Luke 24:39 and Doctrine and Covenants 6:37) is to all. Of course, we don’t have to see with our eyes the prints of the nails in His hands and feet to believe as did Thomas. Christ declared shortly after showing Himself to His skeptical friend, “…blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

“All things denote there is a God” (Alma 30:44) and that nail in my cookie was evidence of this for me on that fantastic Friday.

Jesus Christ can and will provide solace and hope everyday as we seek to be near Him, but I believe our fantastic days provide an even greater opportunity for Him to touch our hearts if we’ll let Him. He lived, died and rose again in order to do just that.