Little Blessings

The last few days I've taken what has been referred to me as "mental health days" LOL. My heart is heavy, my mind is full, and I haven't wanted to focus on the things that I know need to be done.

So Friday, when our sitter came to help with the kids so I could do laundry or dishes or get them in the pool and do therapy...

Well, it was overcast and the pool was COLD from rain the night before. And I didn't feel like doing anything around the house. So, we let the kids play in the kiddie pool and then we got them all dressed and met Mike at a local diner (Moonlight, if you're wondering... and YES, all 9 of us fit!) and had lunch. I must say, though our sitter didn't have much of a tough job that day... It was great to still have her come and help me be motivated enough to let the kids play then get them out to eat. It was great to not have to worry over each fuss and to nurse the baby while they played with her. It was a nice little break instead of a time to 'get things done.'

And today, along those same lines, we decided to pack up the crew and head out to Black Point, a nature drive. Our goal is always to find gators, (and one we did) but moreso it's just a quiet drive where the kids enjoy looking out the windows, finding birds, and, often, just taking a nap ;). So drive, we did, and then we headed over to Orlando to go to an outdoor mall there.

At the end of a long and relaxing day just wandering around at the shopping center we finished picking up the things Mike needed for work and decided to get a quick, inexpensive supper. With that, we realized that we could go NOWHERE or we'd be dumped on. It was about to pour.

So we ducked under an overhang and Mike went to check whether the closest restaurant had the ability to accommodate our large crew including the quad stroller. Sure enough, it did. We went in, sat down (after taking a little while to 'make things work') and picked up the menu. Only then did we realize that this restaurant was NOT the type of menu pricing that we were expecting. In fact, everything was about twice what we were planning to spend for dinner. We'd already ordered drinks and the skies were rumbling, so our choices weren't that great. In the end, we decided to just go ahead and order two meals (they are pretty large anyway) and it was easy enough to split them among the 3 kids and Mike and I. The meal would be more costly and less filling than our other choices would have been- if the weather hadn't turned bad- but we'd survive and it would be dinner...

The little blessing came when my dinner was delivered... slightly burnt. I said nothing. But the waiter, as he brought it to me, said "this one was overcooked, so they're already making you another and it's on the house. Go ahead and begin your meal and when it's finished I'll bring it out to you.

And so, this 'a bit expensive' dinner for one night that might not quite be filling enough... became a FULL dinner for all 5 of us AND a FULL dinner to bring home. We didn't even need to touch the extra meal. It will be lunch one day this week for 2 or 3 people. No, that doesn't completely offset that we spent more on this dinner than we would have, but it's another dinner that we don't have to buy, so it helps!

Sometimes, despite the many storms in life, God uses little things to let us know that He still cares, that He is still sovereign, and that if He cares about such little details as the cost of dinner, or leftovers to bring home, certainly He also has the big things worked out too.

Thank you, those who have been praying for me. Your prayers are felt and appreciated. I feel much more peace than I thought I would, though there are still so many unknowns. I'm happy to be waiting in the grasp of Christ's embrace to know what plans He has in the coming days. He is sovereign, and in the process as well as in the end, it's ALL for Him.