A Jabez Weekend

Wow!

What an incredible weekend! It started out so haphazard and you know what they say, hindsight is 20/20.




Let me start back, wayyyy back…




June, my mom was going to come visit. She flaked

July, my mom was flying me out to visit. She flaked.

August, my mom was going go come visit. Guess what? She flaked.




So I'm feeling a little sensitive about it…




With everything happening in my life already, I also have a long-lost sister in Albany Oregon who's oldest daughter is getting married. I've told her that I would come to visit and attend the wedding. As the date draws nearer and the stress of life piles higher on my shoulders, dread of the long lonely drive north creeps in and threatens my sanity.




Hallelujah!



My little sister Jennifer and her mom, Esther, decide to make that trek from Modesto and pick my up along the way.




My heart SORES!




I have NEVER gotten a chance to have girl-time with my younger and longer-loster sister and now I get to have a 6-hour drive each way!!! Just the three of us girls!!! My dream come true! Now I know that all my impending deadlines at work and out of it can be met because I am now refreshed in the knowledge of my upcoming girl-time.




Alas, Friday comes, and guess what…




They cancel.



yep.




I actually had to take an early lunch because now I have inconsistency coming at me from both sides of my family. Maybe it was the culmination of the stress of late and the flakiness of my mom. But I actually cried a little over it. Yeah, I threw myself a pity-party and invited me to come as the guest of honor.




Okayyyyyy, so now the background is done…. Here's the story….




I head north and stay the night in Medford with Karen, Brad and the kids. Kare Bear and I stayed up visiting 'til 1:30, when we reluctantly went to bed. The next morning I finished my drive, attended the wedding, went to bed, etc.




Had Jennifer and Esther gone with me we would have turned around and left the following day (Sunday). Since they stayed behind, I stayed an extra day. Sunday afternoon my sister, Melinda, tells me to read this book called The Prayer of Jabez. I try to start it twice, but get distracted by the kids and my dire need for a nap! Priorities right? Sleep!




So then that night I read a couple pages.

Then awoke at 4:00am thinking, "I've got to finish that book." My eyes were bleary and I was sooooo tired. So I put the book down and rolled over.

Next, I awoke at 6:00am thinking, "I've got to finish that book." My eyes were bleary and I was sooooo tired. So I put the book down and rolled over.

Finally, I awoke at 7:00am thinking, "I've got to finish that book..." and then, "FINE GOD! I'll finish that darn book if You think it's so important!" And so I finished it. And then I prayed.




Aidan and I got in the car at 8am and after random incidental stops, we were on the road by 8:30. I was stressing out because I had a plan and didn't know if I could or should carry it out. See, Aidan's paternal great-grandmother lives in Eugene (just thirty minutes south of Albany) and I wanted Aidan to have the opportunity to see her.




All I could think was:

"I divorced myself out of this family."

"It's 8:30am, no one will be up."

"I would have to call Aidan's grandmother to get the number."

"I can't pop in with thirty-minutes announcement."

"Will Diego and Kristy get upset?"

"How is she going to act being that I'm the ex-wife of her grandson?"




But still, I just couldn't be all the way up there and not give it the good ol' college try, since she is super old and you never know how long you have 'til The Big Guy calls ya home. What if this is Aidan's last opportunity? So nervously I do it. I call Ann, my ex-mother-in-law. She is happy to hear from me! Really? AWESOME! She gives the the phone number and driving instructions to the house. I call Grandmommy (the great-grandma's name) and request to come over.




It turns out not only is Grandmommy happy to have us stop by, but Aidan's great-uncle Mike from Portland, great-uncle Pat from Tucson (who hadn't been up in a decade) & second-cousin Psalm is there! Aidan got to meet family he hadn't ever met before and some he hadn't seen since he was two (does that even count?). He got to see Psalm's children and we got to see that bashfulness is definitely a genetic trait. Wow! What an opportunity!



What if I had just driven right past Eugene?



What if I had let my fear and pride win?



How awesome for Aidan! How awesome that he is old enough to remember that forgever!




So I was already in awe before I got there. I'm in awe and I can see that this is more than cosmic karma... Then it just keeps going...




Somehow along the way of conversation it was mentioned within those two hours that Aidan and I have been attending church regularly. Uncle Pat asks where we fellowship, and I tell him about The Stirring (www.thestirring.org). Then I tell him about how I believe that everything up to now was devinely intended.




(before I go on- a recap) had Esther & Jenn come, I wouldn't have read The Prayer of Jabez (1 Corinthians 4:9, 10) because we would have left before Melinda had me read it. Had they come we would not have stopped in Eugene. Had they come, my poor stressed out Melinda (mother-of-the-bride) would have not had the energy to have quality time with either of her sisters.




NOW, as I'm telling this to uncle Pat, his wife gets up and leaves the room. When she returns she tells me this story:



The night before she had gone to the store for family movie snacks. She saw this book and felt compelled to buy it. "I already have it" she thought, and put it down. She still had to buy it, and so she did. After hearing my chain of events she went and got it. It's the next book after The Prayer of Jabez (loosely, it's sequal) called A life God Rewards: Why Everything You Do Today Matters Forever and so she inscribed on the first page and gave it to me as she felt I was the reason she bought a book she already owned.



I guess WE had an appointment...




GOD IS AWESOME!




What a chain!




While I'm feeling sorrowful that both sides of my family are canceling on me; while I'm throwing my pity-party thinking about how I spend every holiday either alone or as a guest in a friend's home; while I'm just despondent, dejected and just plain down God brings these events so that He can:




A) Show me that He has a greater plan.



B) Show me love:

a. Karen and her family loved on me (Saturday KareBear also felt compelled to leave me a voice mail telling me I was missed and how inspiring I am with my strength, courage, kind-heart, etc).

b. My sister and her entire maternal side of the family folded me into their arms. Her mom sat with me at the reception, her sister hung out with me and I got to love on her babies. Her daughter was my shadow. My sister and her husband were my friends and supporters.

c. My ex-husband's family made me feel welcome and loved. More welcome and loved than I felt when I was a part of the family in the first place! They loved all over Aidan and told stories that I can remind Aidan of later and even included me in a photo when I was perfectly happy with exclusion.




This is way too much in one weekend to be mere coincidence. This is a testament to GOD!




HE is so good!!!!