When an Already Full Week Became Too Much

Hello, friend.

Welcome back to the porch swing. I'm so glad you decided to return for another visit.

This past week has been...a lot.

It was fair week, which meant helping with our local FFA chapter's food stand, where the kids work to raise scholarship money for college. Add football and soccer into the mix, plus trying to pack for our annual end-of-summer camping trip before school starts, and life was already moving about a hundred miles an hour.

You know those weeks when you look at the calendar and wonder how you're possibly going to fit everything in?

It was one of those.

And then something happened that made all of those things suddenly seem a whole lot less important.

Someone very close to our family became the target of a jury-duty scam.

If you've never heard of this scam, it can sound frighteningly convincing. Someone calls pretending to be law enforcement and claims that you've missed jury duty or have a warrant. They use fear, urgency, and authority to pressure you into following their instructions or giving them money.

And when someone you love gets caught in the middle of something like that, the fear doesn't stop with them.

It reaches everyone who loves them.

For a period of time, we didn't know where our family member was, and I don't think I can adequately explain what that feels like.

Suddenly the fair didn't matter.

The sports schedules didn't matter.

The camping list definitely didn't matter.

We just wanted our person safe.

Thankfully, they are.

But this week left me thinking about how quickly ordinary life can change.

One minute you're worried about practices, packing lists, work, dinner, and everything else that needs to get done.

The next minute, you'd give anything for those to be your biggest problems again.

So maybe that's what I'm taking away from this week.

Busy isn't always bad.

Sometimes busy means the people we love are home. The kids have somewhere to be. There are bags to pack, dinners to make, animals to tend to, and another day waiting for us tomorrow.

And after this week, I'm a little more grateful for that kind of chaos.

I also want to leave you with this: if someone unexpectedly contacts you claiming to be law enforcement or another authority and starts using fear or urgency to make you send money or follow instructions, stop. Don't use the number they give you. Contact the agency independently through a number you know is legitimate, and reach out to someone you trust.

Sometimes slowing down for just a moment can make all the difference.

I'm especially grateful to have you sitting with me on the porch swing this week.

Until our next visit,

❤️ I'll save you a seat.