God has a sense of humor, and I’m beginning to think it’s the sort that only seems funny after the fact.

If you’re not up on the curtain shenanigans of Monday, refer to The Curtain Incident to get caught up, because this is a continuation of the saga.

The following events happened yesterday.  It took me awhile to recover, hence the one day delay on this post.

The original curtain rod came from Walmart and was desperately flimsy from the start.  Tim and I thought an upgrade would solve the problem, so we purchased a thicker, longer curtain rod from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Holes from the previous hardware were already made, making the installation process quicker than before.  I had the new rod supports secured to the wall in about 15 minutes.  The curtain was strung on the rod and, with Tim’s help, the new ensemble was hung with care.  The new rod was the perfect length and the whole thing looked great.  We just needed to tuck the curtains behind the couch.

In the process of getting down from my perch atop the couch, my foot made contact with the excess curtain yet again.  I stared in disbelief at the drooping curtain and bent rod, for a split second thinking I must be in a dream.  Reality was quick to follow and after some, um, words, I was silenced by anger.

I paced in the living room for a minute before retreating down the hall to sit in the most hidden corner of our bedroom.  The frustration was welling up so quickly, I couldn’t keep the flow of tears from matching its pace.  I was stunned and angry that an exact replica of the curtain incident, a meer 24 hours earlier, had just occurred.

As I sat wedged between the wall and my nightstand, I began to cry even harder.  I felt defeated.  God had taught me a lesson on Monday, and though I wasn’t expecting to be tested on the material so soon, I didn’t pass.  I failed the test.  I reacted to the same situation in the same manner – with anger and frustration.

I realized as I lay curled on my bed (I had changed sobbing locations) that I was angrier at myself than the situation.  The perfectionist in me was appalled at how quickly I failed.  I had supposedly learned a lesson – why was I reacting the same?  And shouldn’t the appropriate reaction have been a no-brainer?  I mean, it was the EXACT same situation as before…

After some time had passed, with much hugging from Tim and reassuring that I had at least reacted better to him this round than the previous day, I had a glimpse of God’s perspective.  He was laughing – not spitefully, but with the kind, crinkled eyes of an amused father.  I was frustrated because I missed the target, but God knew that I was aiming at the wrong bullseye.

With those God goggles on, I realized the real lesson God was teaching me through curtains was less about anger and more about accepting His forgiveness and grace.