By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
Two weeks ago, I co-directed the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference in North Carolina. Edie Melson and I worked hard all year with our assistants to ensure conferees and faculty valued the conference. We enjoyed a spectacular week.
But two weeks before, everything seemed to head downhill.
- Speaking events and book signings are fun. But at a recent event when I glanced down at my wedding ring, and a hole stared back at me, my enthusiasm turned to horror. My ring looked like it had a cavity. Not just a cavity but the diamond had been extracted. Husband and I searched the event center and our home for hours. We gave up and filed an insurance claim. The next day we took a drive to purchase a $12.00 amazingly realistic substitute from Charming Charlie until we could replace the diamond. By the end of the conference, my finger had turned green. I smiled.
Some emails, phone calls, and texts are not always appreciated. The night before we were to fly to Charlotte, NC, we were notified that my credit card had been compromised. The company immediately cancelled it and we made arrangements to have the replacement card sent to the conference. I giggled like a girl.
We flew into Charlotte with a two hour drive to the conference center. Husband’s luggage arrived, mine didn’t. I suppose the folks in Houston forgot to put it on the plane. I did what any smart women would do—stopped at Walmart and bought a few essentials. I tried not to think about standing in front of 475 people the next day in the same clothes I’d worn the day before. Yeah, I laughed.
The outcome of all three showed God has a sense of humor.
- My airline received my luggage from Houston in Charlotte and transferred them to another airline so they could arrive in the Asheville, NC airport, a 45 minute drive from the conference center. Husband made a midnight run to ensure his bride had clothes to wear the next day.
- The new credit card arrived at the conference center on Monday. I now had my plastic back so I could buy a cup of coffee at Clouds.
- We returned to Houston and purchased a new replacement diamond. Gorgeous. One week after we returned home, I did a speaking event in Shreveport, LA. The director needed some tape. Husband dug deep into our supplies and pulled out a roll of packing tape. My lost diamond was attached.
Still laughing!
How do you laugh at the junk life tosses your way?
DiAnn’s Library Corner
Librarian – Take time to laugh. While you’re laughing until your side aches, invite others to join in.
Comments 18
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, so happy you found your diamond!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
So, now you have two. Good for you!!
Hi Julie, actually we gave the new diamond to the insurance company.
Hi DiAnn. Without laughter, I’m not sure how we would survive. You’ve had quite a time of it all! A little over a year ago, we sold our alpaca farm and moved into town…to our small, cozy dream home with a fenced in back yard. I told everyone “This is my last move. When I leave this house, I will be in a wheelchair and probably unconscious. Just wheel me out.” God must have been laughing hysterically. A year later, I am preparing to retire in 2 months. Then we’ll be moving a couple hours away, to where our daughter’s family will be moving shortly. On the good side, I have a couple of possible agents to praise God for, and after I retire, I’ll have lots of writing time. but moving? Never say never!! 🙂
Hi Rebecca, I ‘m afraid to say “never” about anything for fear God will put me in that exact place. 🙂 Start writing now – don’t wait for retirement!
DiAnn,
Well, you managed a calm and cool demeanor all through the conference so no one would have known the interesting events going on in the background! Sometimes it’s either laugh or cry…the joy of the Lord is our strength : )
Thanks, Cynthia, yes! The joy of the Lord is our strength.
I try to see the humor.It is often there,but it might be hiding for awhile.
Hi, Martha, my dad and sister received the “humor” gene. I had to work at it, but it’s an amazing perspective on life.
Oh my! The first time I went to Asheville, I didn’t get my luggage until the middle of the first night. We just somehow, in our spirits, remember that the Joy of the Lord is our strength, and somehow, we muddle through.
Hi, Donna, yes, we muddle through despite the challenges.
laughter truly is a balm for the soul!! my diamond fell out after 2 years, hubs never did replace it – marriage didn’t last either!!! and all i can do it… ROFLOLOLOLOL
Hi Robin, I never expected to find it – and certainly not stuck to a piece of packing tape!
Love this post! Seems like the more we experience of life, the quicker we realize the ‘folly’ inherent in a temporal (fallen) world–and laugh! O, but the glory awaiting us in an eternal Heaven. No problems; lots of laughter!
-J.A.
Thanks, Julie, like you, I’m looking forward to lots of laughter. And diamonds won’t mean a thing.
So what did you do with the new diamond? Make a necklace?
It’s great to be able to laugh at things like you did. My BFF laughs about everything, whatever it is. I wish I had that ability, but it doesn’t come naturally. However, I’ve noticed when God’s sense of humor appears, like the time I was in corporate America and we had a realigning of departments and I ended up with a manager who was my least favorite person in the world.
Hi, Marilyn, actually, the insurance company now has the new diamond. 🙂 I find the more I rely on God, the more I can laugh. A blessing for sure!
Well they say things come in threes! Hope you get three good things in a row! What did you do about the diamonds? Keep them both or did you have to give up the new one? Thanks so much. Glad you could giggle through it all! I really appreciate your suggestions to librarians at the end of your posts. My daughter works in a library and I told her about them.
Hi, Paula, the insurance company now has the new diamond. Good things poured into our lives after the “3s” – unexpected blessings like Deep Extraction hitting the bestseller list. 🙂