So, because I’ve committed to being real with you, it means I must share the real parts of life, little unimportant details that somehow are hugely important. Today was an unexpected blessing. On the heels of my little “When Plans Change” lesson to myself, I was determined to just go with whatever happened. To our amazement (and yes, horror) Jeff’s dad and step-mom and step-grandma decided on a crazy whim this morning to drive home to California in their little 2WD rental car. How curious it was to see the roles reversed, Jeff on the phone with his dad, trying to convince him to be safe, checking if they had chains, reminding them to charge their cell phone. It was actually sort of humorous. Anyway, they are off. Then we found out that — hooray! — as of right now my brother and family are flying in tonight at 10pm and Jeff’s mom and step-dad will arrive on Saturday.
So a mixture of ultra-cabin-fever from being in the house for more than a week, and the extra 25 lbs. of pregnancy weight, the inability to buy new clothes, and the fact that I haven’t gotten my hair done in WAY too long gave me the wild idea that since Jeff was staying home today maybe I could find some salon that was open, and by some crazy chance get a hair appointment. At 10am I called a place in West Linn who said I could come at 10:45. Jeff, my hero, loaded up the car with Dutch, toys, and snacks, and drove me there, then took Dutch over to his grandma’s house and spent the morning blessing her (she hadn’t been out of the house in WEEKS) by letting Dutch play, then drove her to the grocery store so she coud stock up on food. Then he drove back and picked me up after my morning of luxurious solitude, and made me feel like a supermodel with my new highlights. As we bumped home in the snow I just had to thank God for the unexpected blessing–I know it meant the world to his grandma to see Dutch, and it meant the world to me to get some pampering time alone. I prayed and hoped God would bless him for his selfless love.
…And I think He did. Just now Jeff got a phone call from a friend seeing if he wanted to go to a Blazer game tonight! He hasn’t been to a Blazer game in more than 10 years! So yeah…needless to say he was bouncing around like a kid in a candy store.
All that to say that today has been a day of unexpected blessings. Perhaps not all changes of plans are bad after all… 🙂