Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Yesterday was a very busy day on our farm.  We had a lot of guests at our corn maze and a lot of birthday parties booked in our birthday barn.

Normally when I book parties, I try to leave 30 minutes between the time one party is supposed to end and the time the next Mom is supposed to arrive to decorate.   Well, yesterday I hit a bump in the road.

I had a Mom’s party from 10:30 to 12:00 in my books.  Normally the parties are 2 hours, but I just assumed the Mom couldn’t be there any earlier and that was why I had a different time.  Chick-fil-a messed up this Mom’s order and threw her party late.   The whole time I was trying to help her and was empathetic with her situation.   But then 12:10 … 12:15 … 12:20 came and I knew I had another Mom arriving at 12:30 to set up.   I figured one way or the other I was going to get told off by a stressed out Mom.

I went over the party that was running late and reminded the Mom a couple of times that she would have to hurry up and wrap up her party.  I also changed the birthday reservation board to prepare for the next party (since this one was running 20 minutes over).   Somewhere in the midst of this it happened.

WRATH!

The birthday Mom’s friend attacked me and told me I was rude (among other things).  I tried to explain what was happening and she wouldn’t let me speak.  She just cut me off over and over again.    I finally knew there was nothing else I could do and told her to have a great day and walked off.

I started praying.

Meanwhile one of the young men who helps us saw a strange expression on my face and asked what was going on.  I told him I had just been told off, but it was ok.  He immediately ran to get my husband and our business partner.  (Ha — the Calvary.)   I told them it was no big deal … explained what had happened,  etc ….

I began sweeping the floor and the next thing I knew that woman who was blowing flames out of her mouth towards me was laughing and chatting with my husband.   My man, being the person he is, had started asking her and her husband questions about where they lived, etc … and the next thing I knew she was cooled off.   She ended up apologizing to me and admitted that she had a hot mouth.

They witnessed for themselves that the second they cleared out the area the other party started setting up.

I am the one who had forgotten to change the time of the party when the Mom changed her time.  I apologized over and over to the birthday Mom.   Originally it was from 10am to 12pm.  She changed it to 10:30 – 12:30 and I dropped the ball.   I gave the birthday Mom 3 free tickets to come back with her family to have a good time.

Even under high stressed situations like a child’s birthday party — the scripture held true.  Gentleness turns away wrath.  If I had started treating the woman who was fussing at me the same way she was treating me, the situation would have only escalated.

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