I just had to take a moment and journal
please bear with me while I back up just a bit...
Honestly, it has been pretty rough around here.
Nothing horrible/bad -
just a lot of stress and pressure
that had begun to show itself in our whole family.
Not. good.
As a mama, I never want my kiddos to experience the stress
but it had begun to spill over onto them.
:o(
So- about a month ago an opportunity
presented itself for us to go to
and go for an amazingly low price.
And with 10 of us going, this was huge for us
even at this discounted rate.
But we needed to get away if only for one day.
So we decided on a date and I tried to book the tickets
online but because of my little one in the wheelchair
we had to call in-
*sigh*
I was not looking forward to this at all.
Who I got on the other end of the phone line was
a dear, sweet, operator-
she found us seats on the day we wanted
and all by the handicapped chair slot.
We lightly chatted as we went through the process
as strangers do-
but honestly, I don't remember what we talked about.
At the end of the call, she happily commented
"See you on that Saturday!"
And I think I teased "Sure!" -
of course knowing that the theater has over 2,000 seats
per showing and over a dozen showings between
when I was booking and our show date.
~~~~~~~~~
Now - for all of you that have a large family
or those of you who have special needs children
you KNOW what it is like preparing to go out
for an entire day.
Yup, kind of like trying to plan a military maneuver.
Packing for every circumstance, trial, and
problem that could possibly come your way.
Honestly, I felt prepared.
So- we started loading up all of the winter-coat laden
toddlers into the two cars and prepared to leave
when we discovered one of the cars had a flat.
ugh...
We handled it as quickly and with as much grace as
we could muster. And we went on our way again.
We arrived in good timing several Disney movies and probably a half a pound of snacks later.
Exhausted already, but looking forward to the exciting show.
Exhausted already, but looking forward to the exciting show.
(and feeling that we were a bit insane to take
toddlers & special needs children with us)
(but honestly, there are very few who offer to help parents with special needs kiddos)
They opened the doors for seating, we found our seats and I began the process of taking the children one by one to the bathrooms to change them after the long ride and before the long performance.
While I was gone, a sweet woman stopped by
and talked to my husband.
She was the operator who took our order one month before!
She just felt that she wanted to stop by and thank us for coming - with her she brought
8 cookies!
4 bottles of water!
A bag of almonds!
and a CD and magnet from the show!
Words cannot explain how this gift impacted my heart.
I was so grateful for the gift
(and my big ones loved the cookies and water!)
but beyond the gift I realized that I had been crying out for a touch of kindness-
Life can bring some harsh cruelties sometimes and despite our best efforts we can feel isolated and alone.
The show was about God loving Moses past his failures and shortcomings and using him to fulfill His plan-
and oh! did I need to hear that!
But this simple gesture from this sweet woman to make note of our family and when they were coming,
to collect our bag of goodies
and come over to meet us...
this was truly a touch from His hand and
I am so grateful.
