Reminders from God

Hey Peeps

It's Monday and I've really accomplished nothing that I intended, with the exception of laundry.
I also have a hundred other things that I need to be doing at this moment but I just had to stop and get all of this out of me.

About an hour or so ago my phone rang, the name showed as Private Caller.  Usually I don't answer those calls but today I did and I didn't think twice about it.  I say hello and the caller said to me "Do you have a condo in Waterscape?"  Uh yes I do. Then the lady goes on to say I'm so sorry I don't even know your name but a friend of friend stayed at your condo and gave us your number.  My day and my outlook changed at that instant.  While finding out if the dates they were looking to stay were available and general chit chat, I pulled up the calendar and the conversation evolved into something so much more.  Something I wasn't quite expecting.   You see the lady explained that she has three children, boys 9 & 14 and a 6 month old baby girl and one of the boys has terminal leukemia.   whoosh....that noise was my heart falling out of my body and the tears streaming down my face.  All of a sudden she wasn't just another guest at our condo (which we love, adore and appreciate each and every one of those) but she was a mom, like me, but facing something no parent should have to face.  Her son is dying and probably sooner rather than later.  His wish...to go to the beach.  That's it, just go to the beach and as a family they need some time to "just be together" before he's gone.   We talked, we cried, we laughed and she gave me the general information I need to get her booked when all of a sudden she says " I didn't even ask how much because we have a budget we are working with" .  I gave her a quote which was tremendously under the standard rate and I gave her a flat rate to fit her budget.  Flat rates are something  I don't normally do because if you've ever done any rentals, the taxes/fees and whatnot are so convoluted and require backwards math that I just cringe thinking about it.   We chat a bit more about grocery stores, restaurants, pack & plays, beach chairs and such and then the baby starts to cry and she needs to take her other son to baseball.  We say goodbye and I have a gnawing feeling inside.....Do More, Do More.   I give my property manager a call to apologize for making him do the backwards math and the low rate (which cuts his commission) and learn that his brother has just been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.  We agree to stop talking about it all so neither of us starts crying again and he says don't worry, I'll handle it.  I start entering the information in the reservation system and yet there is still that gnawing feeling inside me....Do More, Do More.  The phone rings and it's the Hubster.  I tell him the story and am trying to get the words out "can we let them stay for free" but I'm crying too hard for the words to come out and he is saying, "give it to them".  They have too much to think about than paying for a place to stay.  Then we go on trying to figure out if there is anything else we can do to make their stay easier so they can play at the beach with their son and be a "normal" family.   I finish out the reservation with a note to Brian, the property manager,  that I dropped the rate completely. I emailed her my contact information because strangely enough we never got to that part, only me getting her information to record in the reservation system. I wanted her to be able to call me, email me because she had lots of questions about the resort and the restaurant.  When Brian calls her to finish out the reservation and give her the check-in logistics she will figure out the fees have been waived and I hope she knows that a family in Keller, Texas is ever so grateful for the opportunity God blessed them with.


I hope she knows that today I'm feeling VERY grateful for healthy children.  Children who don't listen to good advice, children who don't do well in class, children who "need" too much stuff, children who complain that their cars aren't as nice as their friends, children who complain that we can't go on the vacation we had planned because of work schedules.  I'm grateful for children whose plans make mine change at the last minute and for children who have something to do and places to go with friends who care.  I'm thankful that we can give them cars, education with no student loans, a beach condo for fun, expensive prom dresses, over priced jeans, computers, iPods, iPads, car insurance, health insurance, braces for their crooked teeth.  You name it all the things they want, need or just HAVE to have.  I'm grateful for every part of it.  So today, the house is a little messy and I've got a book I've just barely started for a book club tomorrow night, the laundry isn't quite done but when Hubster gets home in a bit I'm going to turn off the computer, make some dinner with him, enjoy his company, take a walk together later and then come home and have a bowl of ice cream and not worry about anything because my God loves me, blesses me and reminds me that I can be useful if I just allow HIM to use me.  I've done nothing to deserve the blessings in my life but God gives them to me anyways so today I'm being extra grateful.

This I'm asking you my lovely readers, go home tonight and hug your kids, your husband, your parents even your dog tighter than normal.  Thank God for all the crazy beautiful wonderful things in your life, forgive someone whose done you wrong and most importantly pray for a little boy in Austin, Texas.   He needs a miracle, his family needs to feel the love from people they don't know and if nothing else, a prayer to the good man above for some of the most amazingly beautiful crazy good weather in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida September 21st-26th that He alone can muster up because that little guy deserves it!!

Peace, Love & Hugs!!!