Rayna’s piercing scream was my personal wake-up call this morning at 4am. After the harsh realization she was still on eastern time zone and I probably wouldn’t even be entertaining the thought of bed for another 20 hours, I was forced to start my day a little earlier than planned.
Fast forward three hours… Rayna is still crying. (Well, screaming, actually.) She doesn’t want to be held, touched, fed or looked at. Ross is awake and sick (again). Somewhere in the middle, Matthew does the unthinkable- he asked for his SD card back. (Since I was going to need a little extra storage during my sessions in GA, I borrowed his 2GB SD card that he uses for work each day.)
Time stood still.
WHERE ARE ALL OF MY SD CARDS FROM MY TRIP?!?!
I knew I had placed them in my luggage.
I knew I had unpacked last night.
I knew I had NOT seen my little ‘pink’ purse where I always keep them.
(If you’re freaking out because you are reading this thinking your families images from the weekend are gone… take a deep breath. I back-up all of my files on a hard drive I pack in a different piece of luggage.)
In the middle of my insanity (frantically searching the house, calling AirTran, filling out a missing item report at the Atlanta airport, my mom leaving work early to look all through her car, etc.), Ross decided, since we were out of toilet paper downstairs, he’d just use a half of container of really thick wet wipes instead. Yep- you guessed it… toilet backed-up and starting to flood.
Rayna’s now at the (flooded) bathroom door screaming.
Take a deep breath… Take a deep breath… It’s only ALL my memory necessary for photography… AND family images from the trip that I didn’t back up… AND a good bit of money gone to replace everything…
5 minutes later: Rayna is (happy) asleep in bed. All of the you-know-what and wet wipes have been removed (by hand) from the toilet. I’m fighting tears at this point and something is telling me, very clearly, to STOP and PRAY.
I walk upstairs and sit down in the very corner of Ross’ playroom. (A place I don’t think I’ve ever actually sat before.) Ross, who had been following me around all morning, ask, “Mama, why you crying?” Before praying, I started explaining to Ross, “Mama is having a rough morning. And I need Jesus’ help to find something that is very important to her.”
Right as I put my head down to pray, a brief and tiny glimps of hot pink slightly caught my eye. I got up and leaned behind the tv and… THERE IT IS!!! Along with Rayna’s doll, Ross had thrown my little purse behind the tv in the playroom while I was unpacking the night before!
At this point, I’m really crying and Ross is REALLY wondering what’s going on. Between tears, I explain that Jesus told me to pray and when I did, he gave me what I was looking for. Naturally, being a 3-year old, Ross’ next question was, “Why?” I explained the only way I knew how, “Because he really loves and cares about us.”
If you’re thinking, “Great story. But, when will the Sneak Peek’s be up?” You’ll be happy to know I’ll start posting tonight! But, when things like this happen, I feel a need to share.
I have one last thought before I start posting Sneak Peeks…
In the big scheme of things, missing cards, a flooded bathroom and a very unhappy baby is NOT a big deal. But, I believe God teaches us BIG lessons in little things. In my case, it was to STOP, ASK and TRUST.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink… Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they… But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
-Matthew 6:25-33 NIV
OH MY! what a hectic return! I’m so glad you found the purse… the family pics are precious and you would hate to lose those!
I’m excited to see all the sneak peeks of all our friends!!
Oh my goodness, poor thing….I’m about to cry along with you! All I have to say is….God is Good!!
That is truly awesome. In the midst of the storm to step back and see God in all his glory. Thank you so much for doing our pictures it was really a blessing to us (I know I haven’t seen them yet, but that time all together seeing your excitement and joy really helped us through an otherwise harsh day). Bless you for being a light for Jesus.
OMGoodness…while reading this I wanted to be in the house with you holding Rayna and playing in the toilet just so you could get a break. God is good…all the time. Im glad you had a reprieve and were able to get a calm baby, a toilet unblocked and relief of finding your stuff. Skyler absolutely loved being with you Saturday and keeps asking when we are going to your house…lol
OH my goodness! I am so glad you found it! You had me hanging on to your every word 🙂 It was so good to see you at church. I was thinking how AWESOME it was to worship with you! It has been so long since we were in church together!! I am so glad God cares about the big and the small things in our life!