Sometimes it's just what I need

and sometimes it just doesn't work out...
I had today pretty well mapped out in my head:
early meeting with local minister's group
catch up on email
meet with computer guy to see what can be done about the church's aging laptops
make a couple of phone calls
got to the coffee shop and read, read, read
UMM peanut-cooking and supper
council on ministries meeting
I have many books to read before this summer's class sessions. Many. I don't even have one of them, which is out of print, and causing me no little stress--I'm hoping it will come in on inter-library loan before annual conference. All I wanted was a little time to get some of this reading done. And I'm tired. I was kind of feeling like being more of a turtle than my usual social self.

So what really happened:
early meeting with local minister's group
catch up on email
meet with computer guy to see what can be done about the church's aging laptops (scrap 'em and start over)
make a couple of phone calls
(so far, so good...famous last words)
meet with an extraordinary young woman who is rebuilding a life for herself
research new laptops for the church (we may be forced to deal with Vista--bleah!)
go to lunch, with plans to head for the coffee shop
get a call that there's been an emergency
spend the afternoon with the family of someone who had died
get back to the office just in time to help a disabled vet get a scholarship to our Financial Peace University class (thanks, Mike M. & Dave Ramsey)
UMM peanut-cooking and supper
council on ministries meeting
phone calls about shuffling Sunday's events to accommodate the funeral

So no reading today. That's what I thought I really needed to do, and it does need to get done. I needed today to be an easy day so that I could get things done. But every now and then I'm just overtaken by a day that needs me, even more than I need it. Today was one of those days. I was where I needed to be...in the office, waiting on the computer guy to diagnose my laptop (it's okay) so I could leave and go read...so that I could be there to talk, when talking was needed. I was about a block away from the home when I got the emergency call so I could be there for a family.
On paper, one might think that my day had been wasted, because I was not productive in the way I had planned to be. On the other hand, I was in a position to offer the grace and presence of God to some folks who needed it, to offer some concrete help, to hold onto a hand and say, "I'm here if you need me."
I didn't do anything extraordinary today. I said, "I'm sorry," and "You're stronger than you know," and "I'm here," and "Let me see what I can do." Something extraordinary happened, though, in me, for sure, and I hope for others. Some days are just what I need, even (and perhaps especially) when they don't work out.