Spring Weather, God, and Flag Therapy

Today was our first taste of spring. Warm, sunny weather... Ahhhh... Most of the February snow and ice has melted and most of the puddles are gone. The school kids were full of energy and the high that comes from good weather on a Friday afternoon. Walking home, there was a group of 5 boys standing along the sidewalk begging the passing cars to splash them with the puddle.

A story to share of God's actions that could easily be dismissed as coincidence if one weren't paying attention... The weather being what it was, I decided it would be a perfect day to walk Bailey down to pick up Ryan. A neighbor came home as I was leaving so after a brief conversation about the Frat Boys moving out, I was running a little late. I saw Clint drive past as I neared the school so figured he would collect Ryan from the door and meet me somewhere along the sidewalk or in the parking lot. As it turned out, Clint was waiting for Zoe in the parking lot so Ryan went to look for me in the lobby. And he forgot his lunchbox. So by the time we met up at the back door, and Ryan went back to say good-bye to Owen's mom (she had been waiting with him to see if he needed a ride) and collect his lunch box, we were later than usual heading back home. As we neared Parkwood, a little boy (probably kindergarten) was crying and two boys came over asking for help. Apparently the boy had fallen on some thorns. His older sister asked to borrow my phone and called her dad for a ride. So... if I hadn't thought to bring my phone (I put it in my pocket at the last minute in case I got a call from Zoe's parents that they were running late) and if I hadn't been running late and if Ryan hadn't had to go back inside the school, we would not have been in the right place at the right time to help the boy. Coincidence? Perhaps. But I choose to believe it was God's hand.

Now for my Flag Therapy... I went up to the Grossmans to bring Ryan home from his playdate. He wasn't ready to come home yet (they were waiting for their jello to set) so I left to come home without him. As I was leaving, there in the corner of the garage, was Melissa's purple guard practice flag, just calling my name. I'm all alone (I don't like to twirl in front of the kids because then they will want to do it also and that is most definitely a recipe for disaster!) and not in a hurry... So I pulled it out and spent about 5 minutes just spinning and twirling and tossing (only dropped it once!). Something about the sound of the flag whipping through the air and the (minor) exertion and the repetitiveness of spinning the flag is very relaxing to me.

So that's all I have to offer for today. The extreme sadness of the other day has mostly dissipated and I continue on with the business of living. Getting through each day the best that I can.