False Alarm

The phone rang at 2:56 p.m. today. It was Pastor Tom.

"Hey, Mindy! Uh... how ya doing, buddy?" His voice was unusually hesitant.

"I was doing great. What's going on?" I'm thinking, somebody died!

"Well, we had a little accident here at church. A pipe burst in Room 44, and... well... all of the One By One materials are ruined."

Long silence. Ok, so nobody died, but this was still a shocker. When I finally got my breath back, all I managed was a low "oh." And then a moment later, "That's bad."

"Anyway, I was thinking maybe you guys wanted to head over here to see if you can salvage anything before the custodians throw it all out."

"Yes, please don't let them throw anything out before we look at it!" I was adamant on that point.

Two brief phone calls followed. One to Natasha, the other to my mother, who was out shopping. They both took it admirably well. No fainting, no crying, no shouting, no murder.

After I hung up the second time, the phone rang again. It was Carrie, Tom's secretary.

" 'Destroyed' was the wrong word choice," was her opening comment.

"Huh?"

"Tom and I went and checked it out, and you definitely do not have destroyed materials. You do, however, have some slightly soggy, and possibly wrinkly materials. But they are definitely not destroyed."

Oh, I was breathing easy! What am I saying, I was grinning like a fool!

"So please do not rush over here to check things out. You can stop by before or after church tonight. There is absolutely no rush."

"Thank you, Carrie. Thank you so much."

"April Fools!" was her final, humorous remark.

Honestly, I am so relieved. I've never been so thankful for soggy, wrinkly educational materials in my life!