Blessings

I would like to share with you my weekend because God filled it with blessings from my friends and family.
Friday was a rough day for me. I spent four and a half hours at the storage, and in addition to the labor of sorting clothes, I had to deal with some interpersonal challenges amongst the volunteers. I came home exhausted! I honestly don't remember what happened the rest of the day. I was so fried! I do remember texting Christina and telling her that I REALLY needed some time with her the next day, to save whatever was left of my sanity. Saturday morning, Jason saw that we needed some special family time and took the kids and me to brunch at Black Bear Diner. Then Jason and James went off to run errands while Gabby and I went over to the McVays. When we got there, they were just about to go out and get their Christmas tree. I felt really bad because we were interfering with family time, but they didn't seem to mind in the least and just asked us if we wanted to come along! So Gabby and I were adopted in the McVay family for the afternoon and went Christmas tree shopping, followed by Christmas tree decorating. Then off to church in the evening.
After church Saturday night, I opened the kitchen cupboard to discover that Jason and the kids had eaten the last of the chocolate chips. A mild annoyance on a normal day, but on a bad day in a bad PMS month, it was tragic! I was literally begging God as I searched from cupboard to cupboard for any sort of chocolate I could find (sorry, men, but there is simply no way to describe what it feels like to be a pmsing woman with no access to chocolate). When I texted Sonja and informed her of my plight, she was very understanding. She asked me what my favorite chocolate is (Health bar/Almond Roca for those of you who care for future reference ;-).) Then I found some chocolate in the fridge and my crisis was averted.
Sunday morning, I was dragging. Really dragging. The days we do clothing at CITP are long and hard and I really wasn't in the mood. I got to the storage and Sonja greeted me WITH A HEATH BAR!!!!! I literally jumped up and down and then I cried. Yes. I cried over chocolate, but more over the fact that she loved me enough to take note of what I liked and that it mattered to her that I was having a rough time. She said she needed me sane to do the clothes :-). Whatever her reasoning, I was SO thankful for her at that moment!
Then we got to the park and I was approached by the husband of a good friend, whom I also love dearly, and he apologized for something that I had witnessed. I am telling you, again, I was choking back the tears because he didn't owe me an apology. He had done nothing to me. But there is something about a man being humble enough to realize when he's made a mistake and not only realize it but admit it to others, that I find incredibly moving.
During the service, a good friend got up to the mike and publicly apologized to his step-daughter for forgetting to mention her in his sermon a couple weeks back when he was naming off his blessings. Again, out came the tears.
Fathers, a word to you. There are very few things that mean more to a girl than to know that her daddy loves her and is proud of her. Please don't assume that she knows. Take the time to tell her, and admit when you're wrong. It won't make her think any less of you. Quite the contrary. She will be so proud to call you Dad. And at that moment at Beard Brook Park, I was incredibly proud to call Brian McVay my brother and friend because he swallowed his pride and did what was best for his daughter!
Sunday evening, we got home from the park and I was exhausted. I just laid on my bed doing nothing but texting until it was time to make dinner, at which point JAMES asked if he could cook dinner while I rested. Praise the Lord for an amazing little boy!
This morning, I slept through an hour of my alarm!! I have it set on radio, but wasn't even aware it went off until 15 minutes before I had to leave to get the kids to school! Jason had left early on a business trip and the kids were trying to let me sleep, bless their hearts! I came out to see Gabby trying to slice bread with a butter knife for her breakfast :-). Normally, my children, especially Gabby, hate being rushed. They will cry and complain when we tell them to hurry. Not this morning, though. They hurried through their morning preparations and made it to school on time. I was floored!
I did the dishes and vacuumed and then sat down to rest and watch tv. I didn't even send out a single text until 1pm today!! For those of you who know me well, you know that is quite the feat. But I needed the down time, the time away from the world for a bit. And when I did start texting, it did not go well. I got into a heated argument with one of my best friends. I was really worked up and went on a tirade. I was hurt and angry and bitter and took it out on him. But the thing is, he heard me and I heard him and we worked it out, because honestly, that's what good friends do. I walked away from that argument feeling more loved than I had in a long time.
Then Jason called me and I could tell he was exhausted from a day of bargaining, and from being up since 4:30, but he insisted that I could talk to him and vent to him as long as I needed to. God bless that man!
So that was my weekend. Definitely not an easy weekend to say the least, but I came out of it with the certainty that I am well loved and incredibly blessed! Thank you to all of you for making this world a better place.