The first blessing came when I told Chris I was daydreaming about coming to see him. His baseball schedule is a bit restrictive to say the least (it’s eat, sleep and breathe baseball around there), and at first it seemed like a visit wouldn’t work out. Then Chris said, “If you can just come a couple of hours later, Mom, I can spend some time with you.” It was music to a Momma’s ears! He looked forward to a visit too!
Several weeks ago, I was in a car accident where the vehicle next to me lost control and collided with the side of my car. Praise the Lord no one was injured! Last week, we finally got my car in for repairs and the insurance company provided a rental car. I received permission to drive it out of state and kept the wear and tear off my own tires and engine. Not only that, the little Ford Focus got nearly double the gas mileage of my SUV!
Taylor was originally scheduled to work on Thursday so I’d planned to make the trip alone. On Wednesday, a school project was delayed so she rearranged her work schedule and was free to ride as my co-pilot. Many of you have never met Taylor, but any time spent with her is just like a party! She’s fun and playful and, truly, there is never a dull moment when she’s around. We laughed, giggled, sang songs at the top of our lungs, and ate the required quantity of junk food for a road trip. At one point, when she didn’t know the words to a reallllllyyyyy old song, she sighed and said, “I’ll do the dancing,” and she bee-bopped down the Interstate. Just me and my girl, making a beautiful memory!
When we arrived and I saw Chris, he was smiling!! I’m crying as I write this because it had been months, literally months, since I saw a smile cross that child’s face. He has been in such turmoil since his world fell apart in October and all through Christmas break, I wondered if depression were setting in. I never imagined the hope that a simple smile could bring on an ordinary March afternoon. He was relaxed, and playful, and genuinely happy to see us. I thought my heart would burst, I really did!
Now what does a Mom do when she visits a child in college? First things first, she takes him out to eat and then to the grocery store. Right in the middle of the produce section, I received an enormous, unsolicited, 2-armed hug from my very tall son. He pretty much swallowed me up with his arms and I just let it soak in. God is SO good!
All in all, it was just an amazing visit. But wait, there’s more! The last thing a Mom does when she visits a child in college is fill his gas tank. We pulled into the grocery story gas station side-by-side to get fuel… and received a $.90 per gallon, loyalty-card discount on both tanks. That’s not a typo – we got nearly a dollar off the price per gallon of our gas. We don’t get deals like that in Colorado so I was shocked! I told Chris we needed to “get the ham sandwich outta there” before someone realized who we were and sent us a bill!
We made it home to our beds before midnight then it was back to work on Friday with a huge smile in my heart.
James 1:17
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. (NASB)
Thank you, Lord!
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