Be the good and see the good! There are always angels among us and was so thankful for all of ours earlier this week.

When it rains it pours….

4 Emergency Room visits in 7 days for my middle boy last month for allergy related issues

Inspection to check for mold in our home

Expense to clean HVAC system in our house

$50 ticket for expired license plate sticker given at the Schaumburg mall on my birthday.  grrrr

$400 plane tickets forfeited (high school finals were making it tricky and then also ended up with a puker the morning we were supposed to fly out last Friday).  The trip was my boys’ big Christmas present.  We were going to visit my ex’s sister and her family so we were all disappointed that didn’t work out.

The money was flying fast and all the above expenses were ‘no fun’ and we had ‘nothing to show for it’ so it hurt even worse.

Then my neighbor told me about a deal up at the Dells and spontaneously (no surprise there for those that know me) decided I’d spend another $200 to still make some great memories with my boys.   We booked a 2 bedroom suite at Kalahari Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells for the night and invited friends to join us.  Best part is the room rate also included waterpark and amusement park passes (both indoor), as well as 8 games of bowling and a few other discounts for only $209.  What?!?!  All that fun for 2 full days for that price.  Because the rooms are non-refundable within 72 hours of your stay, I held off on booking the room until the night before we were leaving to make sure everyone was still healthy.   Smart thinking, right? Eager to get going, we planned to leave at 7 am.  I walked out to start the car to see my air suspension completely gave out overnight.  I was devastated.  Now, another $200 down the drain and disappointed kids.  I wasn’t going to go out of state with my kids and their friends with that issue.  So I was frantically looking for someone to buy the room off of me so I wasn’t out that money.

Here’s where it gets good…

I was a complete mess and in tears.  Tears of frustration for another looming expense, tears of sadness that our plans were screwed up, anger that I’m losing even more money and just tears of feeling sorry for myself.

I posted this on my Facebook page….

 

My hope was just get someone to use the room so I wasn’t out another $200.

My tears of sadness and frustration quickly switched to tears of thankfulness.  Over the next few hours, these are just a few of the conversations and comments happening.  I removed names and photos just in case they’d prefer their names not be out on a blog.  But please check this out….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you see what happened?  I don’t believe this was any accident.  My frustrations of feeling like everything was falling apart had a silver lining.  Since my divorce, I have enjoyed proving to myself that I don’t need a man.  I don’t need anyone else.  “I can do it mine self”.  That was a popular phrase my parents heard when I was growing up cause I could do it all “mine self”.  ha!  In our marriage, my happiness nearly disappeared and my confidence to do anything was in the tank.  For years I started to believe I was never good enough.  So it feels great to accomplish so much by “mine self”.   So the past few years, I’ve prided myself in not needing anyone.  I have asked for help at times when I knew I needed it and did so unapologetically but most of the time, if I could just figure out a way to do it, I would.  It fills me with pride to do things that I didn’t think I could do, so I’ve enjoyed the challenges.

The last few months I’ve struggled.  I can’t pin point my feelings or even explain why but it’s just been harder for my heart lately. But this.  The van.  This day.  Ugh.  When we walked out in the early morning and saw the back end of my vehicle dropped so low, I just cried.  Cried cause our plans were ruined.    Little did I know God had other plans.  God wanted me to slow down, to remind me that I am very loved… loved by Him and loved by many others.

I received over a dozen offers by close friends, FB acquaintances, even friends who started as Sweet Lemonade Photography clients, all offering to let me borrow their vehicle.  In addition, several were willing to pitch in money for an overpriced mini van rental so we could still go and enjoy.  With many of the offers, words of kindness were shared as well as comments about me that made my heart swell.  I laughed out loud at one point and thought, “wow, this is what it would feel like to be present at your own funeral.” ha!  I mean, so many nice things are said when you’re dead and that’s what was happening.  I was hearing such sweet things about me and as an added bonus, I didn’t have to wait til I died. 🙂   It really was such a heartwarming feeling to hear people say such complimentary things about me.   So the tears that were shed from sadness initially quickly switched to tears of happiness, filled with love and appreciation for those I know.  Words are so incredibly powerful.  Don’t keep all the good ones to yourself!  I mean, at one point, it was full on happiness ugly crying.  And I didn’t care.  I let the tears flow while I honored all I was feeling.  God wanted me to have those.  I just know it.

I have to be honest and say I was a little worried about taking anyone up on their offer.  Part of me was worried that God wanted us to stay home and I was ‘cheating’ by offering the help.  I was worried going was a big mistake.  First the trip to Colorado was canceled and 3 days later, a broken down vehicle was canceling this trip too.  I relayed my fears to the woman who was the first to offer a vehicle to me and her response was,

“I’m happy to help. My husband and I have been praying and looking for a way to help someone in need this Christmas. You my dear, are an answer to our prayers. God. Is. Good.”

Wow…. who would have ever thought my circumstance could be viewed as an answer to someone else’s prayers?!  But that’s so incredibly awesome and actually put me at ease to move forward with a delayed departure for a trip that moments before I thought was not gonna happen.  So thank you Meredith.  Your generosity provided us with another opportunity for amazing memories for my boys and I.  So much fun, so many great memories, so much laughter…. such as this.  🙂

 

What I was reminded through all of this is 1) God loves me 2) I have many FB friends who are detail oriented and read the one little line that explained why we weren’t going 3) I know a lot of amazing people 4) there is still so much good in the world and 5) it felt good to have others share how they feel I am part of the good in the world.

So if you’re still reading this, I challenge you to be the good in the world AND take the time to tell others how you believe they are being the good in the world.

In a world with so much hate and uncertainty, the change happens locally… in our town, in our backyard, in our own homes.  Share love.  Share kindness.  Share you.   Change starts with us, our actions and our words, and the words of others certainly can change us too!

 

XOXOXO,

Heather

Heather is the owner of Sweet Lemonade Photography and co-owner of Sweet Darling Weddings located in central Illinois (Mahomet).  Life gave her a bunch of lemons (you can read a little more here) and by keeping her focus on God, finding the positive in each day, and surrounding herself with supporting, loving and encouraging people she has turned those lemons into the sweetest lemonade.  This blog has been created to share her heart, her adventures and find ways to bless others.  You can contact her at heather@sweetlemonadelife.com.