Alright folks, night 3. I think I am ready for some sleep. AlhumdiAllah (Thanks be to Allah; Praise be to Allah.) I made it up this morning in time to eat as well as Fajr prayer (Morning prayer before sunrise). I indulged in gratuitous amounts of water and gatorade to get myself super hydrated for the day. SubhanAllah (Exalted is Allah), Allah had the same idea, by sending forth sheets of rain down upon Asheville all day. After Fajr prayer, I slipped back into bed for continuation of myself, as I didn’t have to work until 10. Upon arriving to work, I came to find out that they had overbooked the day for service calls which meant for a long, long day. Long enough that I didn’t get out of work until 10 PM, causing me to miss most of prayers this evening, although did manage to make it in for the last 6 pages. Not to bad. But regardless a lesson was taught for me. It was about 6:30 when my PDA said I had two jobs remaining. As I logged into my first job, I received a message from dispatch stating that they were adding a must do for a inside wiring problem on the opposite end of town. By the time I finished the job I was on, and proceeded to the next I knew it was going to be a pretty late night. I was getting pretty agitated due to the fact that they had been piling on work, not only onto me, but the other techs. Matter of fact one tech was stuck re-hanging a drop in the dark as I arrived to my last job. I was hoping this would be an in and out job, as I was looking forward to prayers. As I arrived at the NIU and saw the mess of wires, I knew otherwise. I wasn’t going to make it. It was at that point I remember something that someone told me. That everything I do should be offered as prayer. So while I was anxious to get to the Masjid (Mosque), I knew that even if I was late, but did quality work, and offered it to Allah, it would be accepted as a worthy prayer. I have to say it made all the difference. Instead of rushing through it haphazardly, I spent my time toning out each line, and putting forth my best effort to get everything back up and running properly. In the end, the customer was happy, even apologized that I had to be out so late. I climbed back into my truck, thanking Allah for this test. I drove back to the shop, picked up my truck and headed to the Masjid to finish prayers and do Isha prayer (night time prayer). Although still hungry for dinner, I spent a few moments afterwards socializing with the brothers, and then headed home for a much deserved meal.

So my words of wisdom for all of you. There is only so much in this life that we each can control. Life is full of tests and pitfalls. But in the end, we can choose how we handle those tests. So next time you feel stressed because you have to work late, or something isn’t going right. Do your best, do it right, all in the name of Allah (SWT).