The Best Mother's Day Ever

My Mother's Day included all four critical components
of a perfect Mother's Day :

   1.  Chocolate

2.  Flowers

3.  Napping

4.  Disaster

The chocolate was delicious.  I enjoyed sharing the HUGE box with the entire family.  

My kids gave me a bouquet of flowers and LtDan took me to Lowe's

 to browse for a plant and planter for the front porch.

After church and a lovely brunch,

I claimed that essential right of motherhood,

The Mother's Day Nap.
It was perfectly executed, with comfy pillows, a snuggly blanket, blissful quiet and no limits.

When I woke up, it seems there had been An Event while I was napping.

Not only had the electricity been off two hours without reason,

the water heater had leaked from the attic into the downstairs hallway.

The family oh-so-quietly handled the leak,

and by the time I woke up, everything was under control.

Until the water heater burst completely.

Water dripping down the walls, pouring out of the light fixtures, seeping under the baseboards,

and that's when I got the best Mother's Day gift of all.

My kids shifted into gear.

They grabbed all the available towels and blankets to sop up the water.

They turned the breaker off.

They pulled out the ladder to reach and turn off the shrieking smoke alarms.

They took up the brooms and mop to push water away from the still-dry places.

They turned off the water up at the road.

They hooked up the wet vac and sucked out the water.

They stuffed wet and soppy sheetrock and insulation into giant trashbags.

They worked fast and they worked efficiently.

They did not complain.

The didn't stand around doing nothing, or ask 'what do you want me to do?'

They did not freak out.

They didn't even sneak away to play video games.

They were calm and they were cool, they were level-headed and they worked as a team.

Who raised these kids?

Oh ... I had a hand in that :o)

The next day, The ServPro team showed up and brought 16 ... sixTEEN ... huge fans 

that blew in the kitchen, the hall, the office, two bedrooms and the under-stairs closet 

24 hours a day for 5 days.  

It was like living on an airport runway.

Every sentence began with "WHAT DID YOU SAY?  I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"  

To come in the front door meant fighting an involuntary reaction 

to step back outside and close the door.

The noise was crazy.

For five days.

But you know what? 

It's been one of my prayers that we would work together when things go wrong
and pull in, toward each other, when we face difficulty.

I was so blessed to see God's answer to prayers I've been praying 20 years.  

Our small Mother's Day disaster gave my kids opportunity to shine 

and I saw them work together to respond to an emergency with competence.

God answers the prayers you pray over your children.

Keep praying, Mom.  

God hears you.

It was the best Mother's Day ever.