Some big events....

It's been ages since my last post and boy has life taken some major twists and turns in the last five months. All which have made me realize how quickly life can change and how precious of a gift these days are that God have given us.

Let's rewind to April. The 9th of April to be exact. It was a beautiful sunny, windy spring afternoon. And it was a Friday which made it all the better. Work was done for the week! The weekend was here! I went to pick MVP up from her daycare providers house. Due to the beautiful afternoon, they were all outside playing in the back yard. While the kids played, I stood around and talked with our daycare provider and her husband about our plans for the weekend. They were headed to baseball practices, bowling and a birthday party. We were going to be celebrating a birthday as well. Mine was a few days away and we were going to get together with my family for dinner to celebrate. We were all looking forward to the weekend. I tried to convince MVP, who was driving with her friend in a play car, that it was time to get out and come home with me in our real car. Finally got her convinced and rounded up with diaper bag in hand. We said "See you on Monday!" to the daycare crew and left to start the weekend. Little did we know that come Monday life would look a lot different than what we all were expecting. Three hours after pulling out of the daycare's driveway, I pulled back up to it to see it surround by fire engines and engulfed in flames.

Thankfully the two youngest kids of the family who were home at the time of the fire got out safely along with their pet dog and were able to get 911 called. By the time firefighters were able to get there and get the fire put out unfortunately too much damage was done and the house was deemed a total loss. Oh how different Monday looked! But in a way Monday looked very bright as well. The family, friends, church congregation and community member rallied around this family and they were able to get moved into our vacant church parsonage. Oh how amazing God's timing is! Just weeks prior did the pastor decide to move from his preaching job on to another one leaving the home empty and able to be moved into.

And speaking of moving jobs, that brings me to another big change that has come about in our household. In June, after dealing with several month of changes, layoffs, shifts in workload and experiencing some stress from the environment, I decided to leave my job and pursue other opportunities in freelancing. Extremely scared and feeling as though my future felt so unknown (when isn't it though?), I also had faith that everything would work out. I am now working at a printer as a graphic designer and will see where life takes me.

And in the months following it seemed as though life was taking us down a very dark alley. In August there was severe flooding across the state and our basement didn't escape the wrath. We had nearly 8 inches of water throughout the lower level. Although a major headache to deal with overall we didn't loss much and that which was lost was replaceable. Then following the flood clean up came a Monday morning where I thought I had lost something that could never be replaced. I was driving MVP to daycare, a day after we had just celebrated her 2nd birthday, and heard on the radio that there was an accident on the highway into Des Moines. Knowing that a lot of family and friends take that route into work, I always dread hearing 163 and the word accident in the same sentence knowing that the chances are high that some one we know could be involved. I immediately thought of Coach who had already left for work ahead of me and would have been on his way. I dropped MVP off for the day and was going to give him a call just to check in. But before I could do that my phone was ringing. It was my dad wondering where I was as someone at work had told him a white car with Hawkeye license plates was involved in the accident. Knowing that I usually drive that car he wanted to check in on me but as soon as I heard him say that I knew the accident had to involve Coach. I cut the call real short with my dad and tried Coach on his cell phone. Ring, ring, ring - there was no answer. But I thought to myself, "He doesn't have his phone on ring, it's on vibrate, maybe he just didn't hear it." That's what I hoped but in my gut I knew I was just wishful thinking. I didn't know what to do. I called back my dad to see where he was as all I knew is that I didn't want to be alone if I was going to be driving up to something bad. He was already in Des Moines at work so I was it and all I knew to do was to keep driving out of town and on to 163. Scared to face what was coming in the next 10 minutes of my life, I used that time to plead with God. "Please dear Lord, let Coach be okay, let him be okay. I promise if you save him will we do so many good things for you. Please, please!" Then my begs turned again to wishful thinking, "He's going to be fine, God knows that I need him, MVP and I need him. Heck maybe it's not even him." And then, all in the short time span of a couple minutes, I took a walk down memory lane. I pictured Coach in his high school football jersey and thought back to the time we were in Paris together. And even thanked God for letting us kiss and embrace each other that morning before he left for work. Something that doesn't always happen during the hectic morning routine.

Then my phone rang again to break up my uncontrollable thoughts and emotions. This time it was Coach's aunt with the same question as my dad. She drove the same road to work, had just passed the accident and knowing that I usually drive the white car she was also wondering where I was. I said, "I'm driving. It's not me, it's Coach." She cried back, "Oh no, it's not good." That's when all my wishful thinking went out the window, until now I didn't really know what kind of accident it was. Finder bender, one car, multiple cars, on the open highway or further in town where the speed limit decreases? But when I heard her say that, my heart sunk. And then seconds later I saw her pass me going the other direction. I told her to to turn around still not wanting to drive any further by myself. She did and I jumped in with her. She confirmed it was a white car with Hawkeye plates just ahead of where we were but tried to reassure me saying "Maybe it's not him. I see several white cars with Hawkeye plates on this road."

Then, by that time, we had come upon it. I asked her if she could make out the plates and she couldn't. Although I really didn't want to, fearing what I was going to learn, we both jump out of her car to get a closer look. And then the next two words I heard confirmed that my prayers had been answered. Along with "I do" and "It's a Girl" the words I heard from the sheriff deputy's mouth are ones I'll treasure forever. "He's fine" he said, along with something like "Stop, don't go up there the car is unstable and leaning on a post." But all I really remember hearing is "He's fine."

In the moments leading up to that "He's fine" moment, and while cleaning up dirty sewer water from our basement and during the days that I sat unemployed before finding my new job or seeing a sweet family's home go up in flames, I was really asking God "Why?" Why do you allow all these hards times, suffering, moments of stress? Why? But then I realize without those, without the moments where I thought I'd never see my husband again, without the times of fears and tears, without the valleys we wouldn't be able to appreciate the peaks. And although I don't like to relive these moments, when I do it makes me all the more appreciative and joyful for the life I have and the days God have granted us.