It's funny how God can turn a terrible two days into the perfect weekend. Our sight is limited to the here and now, and God's reaches to the ends of the earth. I have noticed that the older I get the less exciting my birthday becomes. Fewer friends are genuinely excited to celebrate with you, and there is no great prize at the end of the rainbow marked 24. Needless to say, my birthday this year was not spectacular. I loved spending time with the few who came, but there is something heart wrenching about 16 people confirming, and 5 showing. The next two days at work I was in a slump. Excited about nothing, pessimistic about a lot of things. The icing on the cake come Friday afternoon, when I got into a car accident, with myself, on my work's property, in my brand new car. Yes. With myself. By myself. Two days after my birthday. The whole down-trodden voice of the past few days left me laughing hysterically at the sight of my car, teetering over a river. Of course this would have happened to me. Why wouldn't it? I continued the work day in, oddly enough, a much better mood. I am going to blame most of this on the adrenaline coursing through my body. What else could I do? I was greatly aware that nothing was in my control. As my current manager was getting ready to leave work, she handed me an envelope and said that she and her husband had been praying and wanted to bless me with a gift towards my Portland savings, but thought that it be best to give that to me now, seeing as my car almost lept into a rocky stream moments ago. She asked me to wait to open it until she had left. In the envelope was $500. The exact deductible for my car insurance.... HOLY SMOKES. Does the Lord ever provide! I had already made plans to meet my friend Brad at BDubs after work for dinner. He was bringing a few of his friends, and we were going to actually converse and eat, instead of scream at a sports game, and shove food down our throats in between plays. I strolled into the doors of Bdubs, head hung low, and in a haze. I saw Brad's hand pop up from behind a booth to motion me to our table. I rounded the corner to have my whole mood flipped around at the sight of my best friends from Detroit waiting to surprise me! A whole new level of adrenaline was now wrecking my body in the most beautiful way. I could not stop smiling. My heart was overflowing with joy. Though their visit was short, it was the best present I could have asked for. The Lord knew that I needed my closest friends by my side. We spent Saturday at Radnor Lake, Fido, boutique shopping for a valentines day dress for me, visiting old friends at Urban Grub, thrift shopping, and karaoking the night away at Wild Beaver Saloon in downtown Nashville. All of my worries. All of my stress. All of anything that wasn't of the Lord melted off of me. I absolutely cherish everyone in my life who worked so hard to surprise me, and who has blessed me financially and emotionally. You are gems! I am going to end with a very important conversation I had with my mom.
ME: MOM! Guess who is in town!!
MOM: Who?
ME: Leah, Kaiti, and Chris! They surprised me!
MOM: WOW! That's wonderful! The only thing that could have been better is if they brought Jimmy Fallon with them.
