My Thanksgiving Story

So Jordan has been working nights for the past month. It isn't great, but just comes with the territory of his job. 

But I'm burnt out. And today it all kind of came to a head as I wrangled the girls to and through church alone one more time. 

So we survived church and then decided to stop and get groceries on the way home since we literally have no food in our house. I ran through the grocery store so as to avoid any major meltdowns (odds were already stacked against me: kids with colds, didn't eat enough breakfast, went to bed late, just finished playing hard at church...) and we finally make it to the checkout counter. There is an end in sight!

Emberly hops out and insists upon "helping" unload the groceries. Truthfully, this isn't much help. But there's no convincing her otherwise. Piper decides she needs to help too. (She is less help.) 

 

Cashier notices our cheese is moldy. They go searching for more cheese. Piper gets mad because she can't reach the food in the cart herself and throws herself on the floor and cries. Emberly drives the cart over top of her foot accidentally. More tears (none mine yet...)

Cheese is replaced. I'm apologizing to the people behind me. The grocery store is a zoo because everyone in the whole wide world is shopping before Thanksgiving. 

The lady tells me my total. I am holding Piper (who is very against this act of affection in the middle of her tantrum...) and digging through the diaper bag... and it hits me. My wallet is in my purse. At home. Not the diaper bag I threw together before I left for church. 

...

...

So I explain to the cashier how embarrassed I am and truly sorry and ask if I can drive home to get my wallet and come back and get my groceries. She goes to find a manager to find out if this will work...

... and then the gentleman behind me realizes what is going on and just swipes his card and pays for my whole cart of groceries.

My WHOLE cart of groceries. Like all $78 of groceries. And I wasn't crying before, but this just puts me over the edge. Snotty ugly thankful pregnant crying starts as I try to get out the words "thank you" and he just smiles and says "Happy Thanksgiving."

So I carry Piper out of the store who is still having a tantrum, Emberly is skipping along completely unaware of anything going on around her, and I am sobbing. Class A messes.

But so thankful. So so so thankful.

I have a million things to be thankful for... many of which could be misinterpreted above as inconveniences instead of the blessings they really are. Like independent, trying to be helpful kids, and weird work schedules, and being a stay-at-home mama of (almost) three, and a church in which I have friends as real as family and can worship freely the God that orchestrates grocery store check-out line miracles and redeems all of my messes. Not just this one.

And that is my Thanksgiving story.