Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Remember how my hubby was supposed to take the girlies to see their cousin dance last night?  When she went early and we couldn’t make it in time, we planned on going today instead; her team danced at 9, 10, and 12.  The plan was for my hubby to take them for the noon dance, but between shopping for a birthday present (my oldest had a party to go to this afternoon, and we didn’t commit to it until the last minute because we hadn’t figured out the rest of the day) and some other timing issues, I ended up leaving the boy with his daddy and hustling the girlies into the car for a ‘cross your fingers’ type of journey.  As I gave the girls the rundown of what we would do if we didn’t make it in time, I decided to say a quick family prayer–that we would drive safely, that we would find a parking spot, that we would make it.  And lo and behold! there was the parking spot.  My middle–the one with the shortest legs in the group–was a trouper about booking it through the halls of the event venue (a local high school), and when we got into the room where I was, you know, pretty sure the dance was supposed to be, my sister-in-law was two people in on the bottom row of the bleachers.  We hurried up to her, all of us out of breath, to learn that my niece’s team was up after the current team performed.  Which meant that even though they were projected to go early, they actually performed a few minutes late.

There are those who will think all of this to be coincidence, and who will think I’m silly for believing that the Lord answered a brief, eyes-wide-open-while-driving kind of prayer.  I, however, think of my tearful little middle at bedtime last night, and I think of things that my girls have had to miss for once reason or another, and I think–the Lord is mindful of us.  He cares about our little family.  He cares about bringing family members together, and he’s thrilled when we make the effort to be there for each other.

I am grateful for small blessings.

Also in a serious vein, I would like to share with you something that a friend back in RI shared on Facebook.  This Andrew Solomon talk on     Depression, the Secret We Share moved me to both laughter and tears.  If depression and anxiety are the reality of your or a loved one’s life, please take a half an hour and watch.  It’s well worth your time.