Hard Times

This has been a hard winter for a variety of reasons.  First, health.  I kid you not when I say Macy has not gone over a week without a fever.  We finally got to what I believe was the root of the problem - LONG story there.  Thankfully, Parker stayed healthy until a viral round and then a week and a half later, the stomach flu. A much lighter version visited Tony and Macy.  Now I am taking my Airborne and trying to mentally overcome that little twinge at the back of my throat.  Second, the demise of the housing market - a VERY long story there.  Third, every morning I enter my classroom, I am mentally playing the Rocky theme in my head.  Some years you are a fighter more than a teacher.
This past Sunday found me cuddling Macy at home as she had been sick through the night with the stomach flu.  Tony and Parker headed to church.  Thankfully, we already had the craft lined out for King's Kids, and it was one Tony was ok with.  For some reason, he has an aversion to glue and glitter.  On his way back home, Tony called to report all the things I care about - how many kids there were, who was missing, and any hiccups (aka time outs).  He then mentioned we had an appreciation gift that Jenni Reigjers had dropped off.  "Oh, really? What was it?" "I didn't open it since it was for both of us." "OK" We said our good-byes and then Macy and I got back to sitting on the blankets watching Dino Dan.  If only you could have been there when Tony got home.  Macy cheered for Bubby and Daddy.  Then Tony hands me a bag with the sweetest pictures by our King's Kids friends. After ooooooingg and awwwning over those, we read the sweetest card thanking us for working with the two and threes and then offering FREE babysitting.  Tony & I smiled and high-fived.  We were content to stop right there, but there was more. A gift card to the Melting Pot - our favorite special occasion place.  Wow!  We read some more special thank yous, unwrapped beautiful wind chimes, and came to the last card.  It was another gift card to Ruth Chris (we haven't been there since we lived in Austin - what a big treat for us).  We were so stunned that we were silenced.
 Later, I found out that 40 families made this happen with Jenni leading the way. Please know that I am not sharing this to brag.  We've just been incredibly humbled.  The timing couldn't have been more perfect or surprising.  It's been a hard winter, but with spring comes encouragement. Thank you to our incredible church family who loves us like God does!  You've lifted us up when we were weary and reminded us hard times don't last forever.