Amazing Day

Last week I had one of the coolest experiences of my life thus far. I got to spend time with a newborn baby girl during her first hours of life while we waited for her adoptive family to come care for her. I could not bear the thought of her spending her first hours here on earth in a sterile plastic bassinet. I sat in the rocking chair near the window and held her close as the rain poured down and Bewitched played in the background. As I stared down at this tiny human being, I could not imagine anything more perfect. Her long, skinny fingers and her pouty little lips. Her delicate ears pressed against the side of her head. Her cheeks were round and full, while her twig-like legs were covered with wrinkly skin. She was angelic. I wished I knew what her name was so that I could speak it to her. The nurse nicknamed her "Cutie" while I called her "Sweet Girl". I could not help but think what an amazingly loving sacrifice her birth mother and birth father had just made hours before and what this little one's new life would be like with her forever family. I have the privilege of knowing both of these families and they are without a doubt some of the most unselfish and loving people I have ever met. I hope this child grows to understand how precious and loved she is by her birth family, forever family and by our God. As the hours passed and the adoptive family's journey to the hospital was nearly complete, I grew so anxious for this sweet little girl to meet her mother and father. I silently said a prayer over her and got her ready to meet this couple who had been praying for her before she was even born. Our last few moments together were spent looking out the window into the outside world she would soon join. The adoptive family entered the room and I was privileged to introduce them to their new daughter. There were smiles that light up the room and tears streaming down dry faces. The new mother let out a huge sigh of relief as I handed this sweet little one over to her, as if to say "finally she is here". The new dad had the video camera and was taping the beautiful life-changing moment. I asked if they had a name picked out and they eagerly told me, it was perfect for her. I had this overwhelming sense that everything was right. This sweet little girl was exactly where she was suppose to be and I was blessed to be able to spend just a few beautiful hours with her.

Thankful Thursday...

Its been a long time since I've done a Thankful Thursday post sadly, so here we go...

1) I am thankful for breakfast at the Toast with some of my dear friends: Amanda, Cherilyn and little Eyla.

2) I'm thankful for a day off to spend with beautiful friends and how even a task like running errands can be fun when done with them.

3) I'm thankful for my neighbor/landlord Jerry and how he looks after me and is always there to help.

Sound Advice...

Today one of my friends on facebook had this status: "How do you cure a broken heart?" Someone responded with this advice: "You pray...and you keep praying every time it hurts...and eventually you'll feel God putting it back together...."
Wow...I needed to hear this advice.

Good Words.

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire,which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity. ~Washington Irving

Grocery Shopping.

I went grocery shopping today, which usually proves to be a frustrating task for me.
It either:
a) annoys me to traipse through the crowd of people who have little regard for others and demonstrate this by blocking the entire isle with their cart and or body.
b) bothers me to spend money on some of the exact things I just bought the week before.
c) is a glaring reminder that I live alone as evidenced by the contents of my cart, which usually contains items such as cereal, milk, veggie burgers, fruit, peanut butter, bread, and salad . All things that can be made into a meal quickly and with little effort. It's not that I don't enjoy cooking, it's just that I don't like to put so much effort into something that is just for me.

As you can see grocery shopping is needless to say a discouraging event for me. On this Sunday evening it was different. I walked into the store to find the construction that has plagued this place for months to be almost done. It looked like a completely new store and made me feel like I was in a different location. Not my average, run of the mill grocery store. The layout is different, there is a sushi stand...which though it may frighten me to try such a delicacy from a super market, it just makes the whole place feel so fancy! I was not even annoyed by the fact that they have changed all the isles. I even had to do a little searching for my normal products. And though I will never understand why cat food and chips are sold in the same isle, this new renovation has brought a sense of hope. My surprisingly delightful trip did not stop there. As I stood in the checkout line to pay, I was a part of an unexpected "community". The check out lines were busy and every time a cashier would push a bag of grapes across the scanner, he would yell out "GRAPES!" and several other store employees would respond by yelling "GRAPES!". I wasn't really sure why, they were doing this, but my very friendly cashier later explained that Grapes are the fruit of the week, so they yell that every time they scan them. I found this endearing. I also was third in line, behind 2 women, both with enough food to feed a small army. As usual I reached for a magazine to distract myself from the wait. As the first woman was paying, she reached back and gave the second woman her customers rewards card to scan so that she could also get the discounts. "How nice is that." I thought. Well the kind behavior did not stop there. A large man dressed in regular clothes came up to the woman in front of me and asked if he could help bag her groceries because the poor cashier was trying to scan and bag quickly, as she stuffed things in bags, but they were barely making a dent in all the items she was buying. The man was still there when it was my turn and he again bagged my groceries and set them in my cart. I'm pretty sure he did not even work there! I left feeling so encouraged...how often do things like that happen? Not enough it seems, but tonight in that grocery store it felt like real community. And may I just say...I Love Nice People.

Something to think about.

"God has me."
I just read this statement on someone's blog and it stuck out so clearly to me.
Do I live like God has me?
What does that really look like?
Hmmm....pondering this now.