Always watching over me

    At about 10:30 last night, as we were finally heading to bed, I smiled at my husband and asked, “So, should I blog about today?”  He shrugged and sort of smiled back. We had been doing anything but smiling earlier in the day but sometimes, when life is at its most unbelievably craziest, you get to a point when all you can do is step back in ironic appreciation of how things sometimes end up....
    When I started my blog, almost three years ago, I wanted to write about the times in my life where I could see God at work.  The ordinary moments and extraordinary moments when I see God’s hand on me and my family.  Now, I believe, without a doubt, that God is always at work in my life and always with me.  So I guess every story is valid.  If my criteria for what makes the cut on this blog is just that God is working through the events and happenings I write about, than everything potentially makes the cut.
    Anyway, yesterday was not one of those days I was feeling very blessed, at least not at first but maybe it was one of those days that God really blessed me most……..
    The day started with the air conditioning repair man coming.  It was a long stressful morning that resulted in a hefty bill to fix the a/c for the 4th or 5th year in a row.  Both the manager and the technician admitted it was a bit unusual to have so much trouble with a 6 year old system and that something seemed not quite right about it.  Neither one would take any responsibility for it though, nor would they offer to do anything to assist us in solving the bigger problem of why things keep breaking.  They were “kind” enough to give us a 10% discount off the current repairs, bringing the final bill to $530.  Tim was at work, virtually unavailable, and I was trying to juggle school work with the kids in between phone calls to the a/c company, conversations with technician, and freaking out about yet another repair bill that was not in the budget.  In the end, I just put it on the credit card, offered my worries and frustrations up to God, and then quickly proceeded to get the kids ready for their home school P.E. class.
    Once the kids were all signed up and settled in at their class, I took the little one and headed off to do some birthday shopping.  My oldest is going to turn 13 next week and I’ve found one of the greatest challenges of home schooling is finding opportunities to shop for Christmas and birthdays.  It may seem silly but I really do have to be creative about it because the kids are always with me.  This seemed the perfect opportunity though.  I went quickly, visiting three stores, and making various purchases.  It was fun to be out with just the 2 year old, chatting with her about all the things she saw- “mama, doggy,”  “mama, shirt”, “mama, baby!” 
    We rushed back to P.E. with 10 minutes to spare and I was met at the door by a friend.  She informed me that my 8 year old had fallen during class and hurt herself.  They were getting her ice and she was pretty upset.  I went to her quickly and looked at the scrape and bruise on her right eye.  She would not tell me anything but seemed to be okay.  I snuggled her a little while, trying to cheer her up.  Then I gathered her and her siblings up and we headed to park day with our home school group.  We were not there long when my poor little bruised and battered girl started throwing up unexpectedly.  “Uh-oh, she must have hit her head harder than I realized,” I thought to myself.  I called the pediatrician right away and was told to take her right to the ER.  So, in the car again with the 5 kids and off to the hospital, calling Tim along the way.  He promised to leave work and meet me there to pick up the 4 healthy children.  Of course, he works about 45 minutes away. 
    In the end, all was fine.  My daughter got a CT scan and was checked out by the doctor.  She was diagnosed with a concussion but was discharged and we headed home for a late dinner.  We watched her closely all evening and I got up twice in the night to check on her.  By this morning, she was back to her old self with barely a headache to remind her of her adventures.  The bruise will be around for a while but that will just remind me that, though it was an insanely crazy (not to mention expensive) day, it could have been much, much worse.  I am so grateful she got away with just a concussion and not a more serious head injury.  I am so grateful for all our home school friends who were praying for us at the park while we were in the ER and who later called to check on how my daughter was doing.   And, I’m so, so grateful that even after the most chaotic, unpredictable days I get a little quiet time to pray and thank God for being with me through it all, even when I am too crazed to even notice Him in the midst of it.  Though the day was a roller coaster of stress, worry and fear, I ended it feeling grateful for the blessing of my (overall very) healthy children all snug in their beds, and the amazing perspective that only the craziest day can give...