It's more than a burned blanket.

I came home from my adventures Saturday night to find my forgotten straightener left on atop my bed with my prized comforter died blue from melted plastic. I cried a little bit, and then I cried a little more as I kept thinking of it while I drifted off to sleep. You see, this went much deeper than the issue at hand. It was more than a burned blanket to me.

The past couple of weeks at my new internship at the hospital have, although  been extremely rewarding, been highly challenging as well. I work a lot with some pretty rough cases and very sad people whose lives have turned a complete 180 in the blink of an eye, and not quite for the better. These people are dealing with some pretty serious stuff, and it can become wearing at times. I have been feeling some pent up emotion the past week, just waiting to spill over. Apparently Friday night broomball didn't quite cut it, but a burned little comforter did.

Even still, it was more than a burned blanket and an emotionally draining internship.

One of my dear friends got married on Saturday. She had a lovely breakfast before the wedding, got married a couple of hours later, and had a reception that evening. I was one of her bridesmaids and was to be there for the works. I got up Saturday morning, got ready, realized I had left my wallet in my friend's car the previous night, and dashed out to pick it up before making the hour drive to the breakfast; however, rather than being at the breakfast within the hour, I found myself in my car stuck in a chain link fence three minutes later. As we all know, ice and brakes aren't very compatible, and next thing I knew I was going from deciding where to park once I got to the breakfast to deciding if I should hit the car in front of me or crash through the fence off to the right. The next thing I knew, I was frantically and pathetically trying to push my very much stuck car out of the snow and back through the fence in a nice bridesmaid dress  and curled hair with very much no luck.

I had no idea who's fence I had just demolished and no idea what to do. The next thing I knew, I had a rally of people around me, scooping me up and taking care of me, all working to get my car out. A friendly neighborhood man (he will heretofore be known as Mr. Rogers) heard the crash and was first on the scene. He tried all he could, but was also unable to get me much further. A friend of mine I had called in addition to a girl from my ward who also lives in the neighborhood came next. The four of us tried some more together, and made some phone calls. The next thing I knew, a friend of Mr Rogers showed up to try his hand as well. Still no luck. Despite all the muscles and brains at work, my car was high centered in two different spots, and would not budge.

The next thing I knew, everybody was insisting on staying until my car was out and I was on my way again, somebody had wrapped a blanket around me, and a tow truck was pulling my car out. The next thing I knew Mr. Rogers and his friend are repairing the fence as best they can, others are checking out my car, and my friend who just lost his job, was trying to pay the tow trucker who is only charging $20 instead of the usual $85 (my friend let me pay him back when I caught him). Next thing I knew I was back in my car driving away.

Unsure of the total damage of my car, I drove back to my home, uneasy about driving for an hour on the freeway. By this time, I had long since missed the breakfast, and I was not sure I would even be able to get to the wedding. Next thing I knew, I'm explaining what happened to my questioning roommates, and both of them volunteer to give me a ride before I can even finish the story. Never mind the fact that one of them had been throwing up and trying not to pass out the day before. Next thing I knew, I'm chatting with my roommate (the healthy one) in the car on my way to the wedding.

I got there with frizzy hair, slightly smeared make-up, probably a wrinkled dress, and 15 whole minutes to spare before the marriage ceremony began. The next thing I knew I was being embraced in my friend's mom's arms in a big hug as she asked if I needed a mom hug, even on her daughter's wedding day. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was enjoyable. The family of the bride let me tag along with them for the day and was so ready and willing to get me to where I needed to be when I needed to be there in my car-less state. My friend's uncle's family let me tag along with them after the reception and took me the hour long drive back to my home.

It's here that I found my straightener melting into my comforter, and it is here where I completely lose it. I'm exhausted. I'm overwhelmed. My muscles ache. My body hurts. I feel stupid about my car. I feel bad that I imposed on my friend's family on the big wedding day. And by golly I love this comforter and I've worked hard to take quite good care of it for so many years.

It's okay though, because it's more than a burned blanket.

Turns out it's also a mark of love. It's an icon of the good people that surround me everyday without me  even realizing it. It shows that there is so much good in the world. It's a sign of the love and support that good people lend at the drop of a hat. It's a symbol of a loving, watchful God that tenderly cares for us and makes it all work in the end, whether a stroke or traumatic brain injury, a car accident, or just a bad day/week/month/year/etc. It shows that God will love and help even dumb girls that can't drive a car, even really sick people in a hospital, even me. It's a reminder that I can be better and I can step out of myself and be that reliable instrument in God's hands. When somebody crashes, I can be the answer to prayer that shows up on the scene to lend them a loving hand. It shows me of how much more I could be doing, that I should be doing. What started as a mark of defeat has turned into a mark of miracles and opportunities bigger than myself, and I now look upon it with very different eyes.