4/01/06

One of the best parts of moving is the ready-to-play boxes that just scream "turn me into a fort!" So, we did, and for the last four days Ben (and Mark) have had a grand time crawling in and out of "the fort" and acting the way regular little boys should act. I love it!

I want to write about something I learned today. I'm feeling chatty, so this might be long, feel free to skip it. Anyway... Today I learned why my church has a gourmet cafe in it's lobby. For months now I've chalked it up to the fact that it's because my church truly caters to the rich. A coffee cart doesn't do Mariners justice, we need an entire Starbucks. (I'm not kidding.) I figured, hey, when in Rome... right? But I found out tonight the truth behind the cafe, why it's truly there: people eat. Not just Christian people, people people. We got to eat. And whether you're a regular at the church or just driving by, it's a place to simply fill a stomach. Which leads me to my meeting of Amber.

I was late to church tonight. Really late. So late, in fact, that I was embarrassed to drop Ben off at child care. So, I thought I'd take the time to just play with him on the lawn with all the hundreds of frisbees and balls and hula-hoops he usually gets skirted out of playing with because of all the hundreds of kids, bigger kids, out there as well. But they weren't there now and we had some time, so...

We're playing on the grass and I see this 2 year old boy running in our direction. He runs as fast as his little legs would carry him and I look up to see a woman, presumably his mother, in the distance, lumbering along carrying an infant carrier. She finally reaches us, well after Ben has hugged and screamed at her son. (He hugs every child now, EVERY child.) We smile, ask the standard, polite questions - how old is he? What's his name? Is he saying much yet? You know moms; the unspoken law of M.S.T. -or- Mandatory Small Talk.
She seemed a little lost to me, a little uncomfortable and shifty. She asked me if I go to this church and I said yes. She said she didn't really go to church then quickly backed it up with the fact that she's been looking around for a church to go to though. That's great, I say. Mariners is a really good church. Then, totally going out of the small talk protocol, she starts to open up to me about all kinds of things.

For one; the infant in the carrier is a twin (her friend was watching the other one near by.) Three month olds. Three month olds which her husband, their father, has never met because he's been on deployment in Italy since October and won't be home until June. She's from Maine and now she's here, with a two year old and infant twins on her own in a city where she's pretty lonely. She asks me about the church, the services, the pastor, the bible studies during the week, MOPS(!) and soaks up everything I tell her about things she and her kids can do. She just wants to stay busy, she says, maybe she should come to church sometime. Absolutely! I say. And come to MOPS, I throw in, of course. We walk for a while and talk, our boys seriously playing together like they've known each other for years. I point out how well our boys are getting along, slipping in that we should get them together sometime. What? She says. Really? That would be so great. I just need to get out, you know? I do know. I say, and get her number.

As we rally up the boys and begin to walk back to where her other twin is sitting with her friend I ask, so what brought you here tonight, you know, to Mariners? (Since it was obvious we both weren't in the service, I was curious why she was here at all.)

She answers, We were on a walk and got hungry. We saw the cafe was open from the street and figured we got to eat, right?

Right. You got to eat.

So I get it now, why my church has a cafe. Because if it didn't Amber and her boys would've kept walking. Her son wouldn't have run up to play with Ben and she wouldn't have found out about what the bible studies are about and what the pastor talks about. And now maybe next time she comes it'll be for some real food. I can tell you one thing for sure, although this may not help with my goal of becoming a punctual person, I've never been so thankful for being late to something in my life.



Today I am thankful for...
1. a sweet spur of the moment visit from my dear friend Marie! I have missed her and it was so good to talk with her for a while. She was very gracious with the appearance of things (including myself - seeing as how it was well past noon and us three Fitzpatricks were all still in PJ's!).
2. a phone call from Nonny! (Mark's grandma). She's such a hoot, I love her so.
3. the napkins Nonny sewed for me. I had a notion to do it myself, but she's just so gosh darn good at it and when she offered/I shamelessly hinted I couldn't refuse. Thanks Nonny!
4. the look on Ben's face when he sees Mark, it's so precious, he loves his daddy so much! (I love his daddy too.)
5. finding a table that I love for a decent price
6. being so late to church tonight that I ended up just playing with Ben outside which lead to the meeting of Amber. So cliche, but it was a total "God thing".
7. dinner with the Johns family after church tonight. Ben and Tyler had so much fun playing together. Tyler made Ben laugh so hard, he rivals Gavin.
8. Mark having a safe flight to Vegas and that he gets to have a day and a half to take a break from it all. Sadly, that includes me, but he deserves a break and I know he's there for a very good reason.
9. quality time with Mark telling me stories of things that happened on his shift last night. I'm also very thankful that my concept of evil is honestly pretty naive, I don't think I could handle knowing and seeing all the things Mark does. And we're talking Newport Beach here, it's hand slaps and band-aides compared to the stuff my brother will see in LA.
10. God's protection over Mark's heart and mind.