A lucky mistake

It had been a long day, with every minute taken up by one thing or another. Dinner was rushed, with me forcing E to finish her beets, under the harshly spoken threat of missing Pioneer Girls. She tearfully choked them down, and we were out the door, racing to church. On the way there I warned E that she would be walking in late because she had taken so long to eat. On arriving at church, we discovered that it was a non-meeting week, so I muttered under my breath things like,"I can't believe we drove all the way out here for nothing!", while E walked quietly back to the car with me.

I usually shop at Trader Joe's during this time, so E asked if I was still planning on going. I said I had been planning to just go home so that she could go to bed. A second passed, then a little voice, " But won't I still get back home sooner than if I had gone to Pioneer Girls?". I laughed at her reasoning skills, and agreed. We headed to TJ's. At the checkout counter E proudly handed them her coloring page, and received two fruit leathers and a balloon in return.

On the drive home she chattered happily about a story she was planning on writing. As we approached a Starbucks I impulsively turned in, and E asked where we were. I helped her out of the car, and said," I think we need a little something to warm us up". We went in and ordered hot chocolate and a cookie before heading upstairs to the seating area. As we sipped and nibbled, we talked quietly. E seriously munching away, feeling the specialness of this unexpected treat, "Mommy, isn't it so dark outside?" Me just watching her and reveling in this little blessing of mine. I had been so cross with her earlier, and she hadn't said a word against me. Instead her sweet little self had "saved" the evening. Instead of returning home in a bigger funk than I had left it, I was cheered and my bad mood had evaporated. I had been given an evening out with my daughter, and one-on-one time that I usually don't get with her. Time to listen to her concerns about friendships at school as well as laugh over her story, " The Day the Elephant Went to School". The Lord is good, to have given me this gift, even though I did not deserve it.