Day 52 - { dreams unfulfilled }

1/12/11 - The Things That Matter Most

This morning got off to a rough start. I don't know if Wasabi was sensing my stress last night, but she had woken up over and over and over crying next to me. And when she was going back to sleep I couldn't seem to turn off my brain from trying to solve the world's problems instead of just enjoying being in a warm bed with time allotted for unconsciousness. I got up convinced that I could not cope with my life, and rather sulkily headed down to breakfast, where I hit my head on the corner of the cabinet door that had been left open. A sympathetic DC suggested I get some more rest (very sweet), and I went back upstairs feeling overwhelmed with all the knots my brain had not been able to unravel during the night. A large part of my discontent was the stress over our entanglement with the city, as well as other irritants of mortal life that were as yet unresolved, like my darn cell phone not working. All I want is PEACE, ya know?! I was thinking about Pres. Uchtdorf's talk, and wondering how on earth I could simplify things so as not to hit these temporal speed bumps so hard. I remembered he said that first we should focus on our relationship with God. So I decided to pray before getting back in bed.  I offered up a more real prayer than I had in a while--for some reason, I've tended to get distracted during my prayers lately--and I felt immediately that I didn't need to worry so much about all those problems, that He was aware of them, and would help us work them out in His time.  And I felt. . . .Peace. Strong enough to go back down to my family for those precious few minutes before everyone scatters for the day. And then - ding ding ding - oh, yeah, that's the second focus he talked about! Our relationship with our family.

It's not surprising, then, that I went on to have a wonderful day. (Thank You, Heavenly Father!) Even in spite of making my weekly shopping trip to Wally World. :) Went for a walk in the frigid snowy neighborhood while counseling with my co-Sunbeam teacher on the phone about our strategy. Nice warm shower with this week's lesson posted on the shower wall so I can memorize it and not have to look at the manual.  In the evening, we went to Exacto's Court of Honor, where he received the Fire Safety merit badge and advanced to First Class. Yay, Exacto!

 

Fluffy was pumped for the elementary school spelling bee, in which he would be participating the next day. He said he'd had a dream that he came in 2nd place! (Exacto came in 2nd place in the middle school bee last Friday, so it made sense :).

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1/13/11 - Adventures in Spelling and Customer Service

Today - abs routine (thank you, Kathy Smith!) and shower and a lovely visit to the Verizon store about the above-mentioned darn cell phone. After a half-hour of enduring shockingly bad customer service (can I just say they have the WORST customer service ever? there was an employee actually standing behind the counter and talking on the phone to her child about how to turn on the heater and "stop being so dramatic" with THREE customers waiting for help) I finally got "permission" to return my phone that hasn't worked since the day I activated it, a day I will always regret. ha! 

Rushed over to the elementary school to see Fluffy compete in the spelling bee.

Misheard the first word "gnash" and spelled it "m-a-s-h". Luckily that was the practice round. . ..

P-R-E-F-E-R-A-B-L-E

 

F-E-V-E-R-I-S-H-L-Y

His awesome teacher hung up a "good luck charm" at the back of the bleachers for her students to look at when they got too nervous seeing all the faces staring at them.  He said it saved him on the next word:

E-X-O-S-K-E-L-E-T-O-N

And finally . . .

S-O-L-I-C-I-T

His dream had not come true. He did not win 2nd place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HE WON FIRST PLACE!!! WOOHOO!!!

I was so happy for him. Just what he needed right now!! More gratitude from this mama-heart up to Heavenly Father!

He's been beaming ever since. The funny thing is that he and Exacto will compete against each other at the county bee in a couple of weeks. . . .

The rest of the day was filled with pretty mundane stuff--post office, sewing on Exacto's merit badge, frolicking with Wossie (Hummer's phraseology), a fun visit with my seester on the phone (love you, Becky!), picking up boys from school and quiz bowl practice, a visit from one of the city councilmen who is supportive to our cause, creamy tomato soup for dinner, a congratulatory visit to Fluffy from a neighbor friend who goes to the same school.

Poor Wose slipped and bit her lower lip terribly! It was bleeding profusely and looks awful, like a discolored crater. We gave her our boo-boo sheep cold-pack (from sweet Aunt Mandy) and some ibuprofen, but what really seemed to help the most was some chocolate ice cream.

And now Exacto's working on homework on the couch and has the fire going in the fireplace. The Fiddler's upstairs practicing with Wasabi frolicking nearby.

And I am grateful for this blessed life, where problems are temporary because our God is not.

 

Day 46 - { "Our Christmas Eve Miracle", part 3 }

~ read parts 1 and 2 here and here ~

"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you today."

~Exodus 14:13

Heavenly Hands, Greg Olsen

We sat there for a while as I cried and we tried to decide what to do. I was ravenously hungry, and DC gave me some of the food he had brought for his own sustenance at the hospital. I had only a little bit of water left in my handy hospital water bottle, and realized that if I were to be able to take my painkiller I had better save the rest.

We looked at the Interstate ahead in helpless frustration. I-30 eastbound was a parking lot. I-30 westbound, the direction we needed, was completely empty because of the police-block. Suddenly a helicopter flew overheard right in that direction, and I called out, “Please, take us with you!!”  DC chuckled good-naturedly at his rather strange wife. Finally we decided to head back towards Little Rock, wondering aloud if maybe we could find a different way home that was open.

After heading back the wrong way, I thought I saw a car going on I-30 westbound. I called to DC to pull over. We pulled over in an abandoned gas station, and looked more closely. No, there were no cars getting through still.

I completely lost my composure at this point. I was filled with anxiety and fear over what would happen to us if we were stranded -- a three-day old baby in a cold car, with very little food and water, and the pain that I had to stay on top of, somehow. . . .I was sinking into complete panic. Poor DC had to be the strong one—I couldn’t even form a coherent sentence from crying too hard. He finally said, “I think this would be a good time to say a prayer.”

I don’t remember anything that he said. But I will never forget the unmistakable peace that settled on me during that prayer. I stopped crying. Chris stopped praying. Both of us sat there silently. Rosemary had been sleeping this whole time. It was now 1pm. Neither of us knew what to do still.

DC said, “Maybe if we head back towards Little Rock, we’ll see a way to turn around and go back the right way.” I said, “Okay,” and we started out again. He went onto the ramp that said it went to Little Rock.

And here’s the part that neither of us can explain.

After a minute or two of driving in those roundabout ramp-things, suddenly we found ourselves on the access road on the other side of the freeway, heading towards home! And we were past where the police had blocked it off!

I gasped, “How did we get here?!” DC said, “I have no idea.” And I said, “Well, keep driving!”

We were eight miles from the exit to our house. In stunned amazement, we drove past eight miles of stranded cars completely stopped on the other side of the freeway. Past news trucks and broadcasting towers sitting in the middle of our side of the freeway. Past deep water on both sides of the access road.

It was the most surreal thing I have ever experienced. As the miles passed, DC said, “How are we doing this?” And I said, “I don’t know. Keep driving!” I felt like I knew exactly how the Israelites must have felt, passing through the Red Sea on dry ground, with walls of water on either side.

I kept praying fervently, “Please let us get home. Please let us get home.”

Finally, unbelievably, we got to [our town]. As I saw the familiar parking lot of the Walmart by our house, I thought to myself, “Now that we've made it here, Mom and Dad could even rescue us in the Suburban if we needed.” But, we kept driving.

The main streets of [our town] were very clogged with people trying to get through to the state highway, an alternate to I-30 that was also supposedly closed. As I continued praying non-stop we crawled through, inching along through the traffic, till we got to our neighborhood.

We pulled onto our street. Still praying. And then into our driveway. I started crying again, this time out of sheer amazement and gratitude. It was now 1:30pm, time for my next dose of medicine.

With rain falling, instead of the lacy flakes of snow I had envisioned, I joyfully unbuckled Rosemary from her carseat and came inside to the excited shrieks of our sons, and the amazed tears of Mom and Dad.

Oh, how good it was to be home! I felt like now there could be any weather outside and I would still feel peaceful and happy! Exacto and Fluffy and Hummer all gave hugs and kisses to us and their sweet new baby sister, and they and my parents listened in grateful joy to our story. I told my boys, “Your prayers got us home today.”

Oh, how overwhelmingly thankful l felt to Heavenly Father for giving us this special miracle! Not only had He brought us the long-cherished hope of a new baby in our family, but He even made sure we were home for Christmas Eve, as our sons had prayed.

No helicopter needed.

 

I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust. . . .

In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. . . .

He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. . . .

The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. . . .

Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, . . . .and sing praises unto thy name.

~Psalm 18