That's Smashing!

It's Wednesday afternoon, about 4:30 pm.  The boys are chatting and enjoying thier Wii game downstairs and I'm catching up on some email from a friend in the States.  He writes that he missed his flight and appointment at a meeting and wondered why he was delayed....to avoid a plane crash on the one he was supposed to catch?  To talk to someone needing help, or who will end their life if he wasn't there at the airport waiting...but he intervenes?  Nope, nothing dramatic happens...but he does have a potential life changing talk with another believer on his next flight.  "Cool", I was thinking half-way into the letter....neat way of thinking of upsetting circumstances!  An opportunity, if we wait for it, not getting upset or bent out of shape.

SMASH! SMASH!  I looked out my 2nd floor bedroom window and 4 boys (Grade 5-6) dressed in black seemed to be having a great time smashing glass bottles into smithereens in the alley way.  After a couple times, I thought they were done, but I heard more and a bit ticked off, went downstairs to let Cyclone out to bark at them and see if I could get them to stop.  Cyclone did a fine tyrade of barking and I went out the gate.  The alley way was empty (those boys are fast!) except for a long line of smashed glass, jagged and raw.  A car tried to inch past it, the lady smiled at me.  I went for the kitchen broom.  My ticked-offness was increasing as I swept pile by pile, wondering what the heck I was going to do to these kids as an encore.
A bike rode past.  Then I moved for another car, the man gave me an angry glare as he tried to navigate around the huge shards.  "Yah, wad 'up dude", I thought.  He glares at ME?  The nerve of some people.

I hear another broom sweeping down the way.  The guy on the bike lives right there, he had got out his broom and was doing a clean up too.  "Cool", I thought.  My mind went to the kids again.  I knew one of them from the kids class last year.  Maybe next time I see them,  I'll tell them that was not nice to smash bottles in our alley and their pictures will be up on the police wanted wall.  Maybe I'll just get to know their names and give them ice pops.

Throwing the last bucket of glass into the bin, I went over to talk to my neighbor.  He's a believer, has a 9-month old little one and seems like a nice guy.  "We'll see you again!" he said, as I headed back to my gate.  "You can count on it, with kids like that around!", I commented back.  We were both smiling.  Funny how the wierdest things can create a tad more community.  Divine appointments?  Yep, after I finish reading my friends letter, I think I'll grab the ice pops and meet some kids......