I need some prayer. And a hug, maybe.

Okay. I know this will sound like complaining. But I'm telling you this because I need prayer.

Here's the deal. Saturday was wonderful. Troupe was great. We have a performance tomorrow and we're prepared. I especially loved this: instead of Bible study, we all did a "popcorn" prayer for the performance and all our other performances coming up. That was so wonderful. So yeah. I was pumped, ready to go. I knew God would be with us every step of the way, and I trusted in Him to prepare my heart for Wednesday.

Well, I think Satan took notice. I'm positive that He's been doing everything in His power to try and get me down. It started Sunday afternoon. There was a misunderstanding between Mom and me. I thought we were going on a quick trip to Walmart to get elastics for my dance shoes and to pick up a few other little things, and then we would go home for a nice relaxing afternoon in which I could get done what I needed to do. Well, we ended up being there for 4 hours. The worst part was, halfway through, my feet started aching (I was wearing flip-flops, with absolutely no support—as I said, I thought we would be out for 15 minutes!). Then the blister I got on the back of my heel started hurting so bad. And the worst part was that for some reason unbeknownst to me, Wal-Mart has taken out ALL their benches! So I had nowhere to rest my feet! I just about cried because my feet hurt so bad that I couldn't imagine dancing Wednesday. I really had to put my faith in God then, but it was hard!

Then, that night, I found out I'd offended a friend and hurt her feelings without even knowing it or meaning to. Of course I cried my eyes out. If any of you know me, that sort of thing really bothers me. Even the thought of hurting someone makes me heartbroken. We worked it out, by the grace of God, but I was a mess the rest of the night. Even thinking of it brings tears to my eyes now. But, I know God was teaching me something through that. Things like that happen. I need to let Him carry me when they do. A verse that REALLY helped me was Romans 5:2b-5: "And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us."

So I woke up the next morning and eventually I got over it and fully gave it up to God. That was the day when Mom did something wonderful! She let us off of all school besides TeenPact homework (which I feel so behind on...) so we could get the chores done we hadn't had time to do in weeks. I worked on cleaning my room. I got it done, but it was such a mess (I had scrapbooking stuff all over my floor—I'm finally putting in my Mexico pictures!) that it took practically all day. Part of the reason it took so long was that I kept getting distracted. It was infuriating! I think I know why that happened, too.

Today was not so good. I had to wake up early (for the past few nights I haven't been able to get very much sleep—another thing that's been weighing me down!). Then I had the big MOPs babysitting job all morning, which was hectic as usual. I got home and took a deep breath, then started school. I simply could NOT focus. It was sort of a blessing in disguise when my hammered dulcimer student called in sick (well, a blessing for me, but I feel awful for her—poor Katie! She's been sick for two weeks!). But I still haven't gotten all my school done. Finally I gave up and decided to save the rest for tonight, and practice dance for the rest of the afternoon. The good news: my pulled muscle is feeling a little bit better. The bad news: I messed up a heck of a lot more than normal. I couldn't get a single click in the middle of a dance and parts that I could do in my sleep I suddenly drew a blank slate on! And when I put on my hardshoes, my feet cramped so bad! I could barely get through a single dance. And then, after dancing for an hour, it was time to help Hannah with supper (she's on kitchen duty this week). I was fixing to go downstairs when I knocked my water glass off my desk and there went the water all over my hardshoes and softshoes and dance bag and everything! I scrambled to wipe it all off, and I'm now wearing my hardshoes in hopes that the water will mold them to my feet more.

Another thing: my stomach has been back to its old dirty tricks today and yesterday (because I had some salsa with onions in it—the week of a performance. I'm really smart, aren't I?). I haven't been able to stretch and do my crunches and situps like normal, and that's made me feel really yucky.

Tonight, I was going to have to re-duct tape my hardshoes (which takes about an hour), do the rest of my school, clean a bathroom, and somehow get a lot of sleep. Thank goodness for Mom. She said I didn't need to clean the bathroom after all and I only had to do my TeenPact homework. So it's all a lot better now. And I'm still trusting in God. He's SO faithful! I know His will will be done and everything will work out right. I think He's definitely helping me to handle this better than I'm making it sound! I just wanted to tell you the specifics so that you could be praying for me. So I'm sorry if I've sickened you with all this complaining!

Also, please pray for our whole troupe! I'm hoping they're doing all right, and that they're not being attacked like I am. Really, I think—no, I know—that this is spiritual warfare and that Satan really doesn't want tomorrow to work out. But God will make us strong enough, and I have no doubt that Satan won't have a chance! So please pray!

God is in control, and He is faithful! Thank goodness.