A Happy Ending

On Friday I went to a Mothers without Borders Boutique and lunch with two dear friends, Sandy and Sandy. Besides sharing the same name they are unfortunately both widows. What an incredible example they both are to all of us in how to handle adversity. During lunch one of the Sandy's asked me to share an update on Kevin and she expressed her concern on how difficult it would be to have a prodigal. As we were discussing life and trials, setbacks and disappointments I shared the thought that I bet not one of us would of imagined twenty years ago that they would be without husbands at such a young age or that I would have a son who had just spent a year and a half in jail. We never know what life is going to hand to us. After discussing those thoughts for a minute the humbling realization was mentioned that we wondered about our children and grandchildren and where each of them would be in twenty years and what adversity or unplanned events would they have experienced. Then Saturday night as Jeff and I were enjoying a Bar J Wranglers Concert in Heber City my cell phone vibrated. Pulling it out of my pocket I saw that Carrie Crosland was calling. The odd thing about this was it was 10:00 p.m. our time which made it 11:00 p.m. their time in Oklahoma. Carrie doesn't usually call to chat at 11:00. I didn't answer the call because we were in the concert and I was beginning to text her when Jeff's phone rang and it was Carrie. Then I panicked and my thoughts of our conversation the day before returned. Jeff jumped up and left the concert to answer the phone. Ben was in Chicago at a CE Conference and we knew Carrie was alone. Luckily by the time I followed him out he mouthed to me that everything was OK. Relief flooded over me, I wasn't ready for the unexpected to begin. But bless poor Carrie's heart. There was a second earthquake in Oklahoma City. There had been a smaller one earlier that morning. This one was the largest earthquake in Oklahoma history and Carrie was home alone with three little children in a new neighborhood. How frightening!! I am so grateful that she felt comfortable enough to call and express her concerns with us. Thankfully they were safe and there was no damage to their home or belongings, just frayed nerves. What a helpless feeling it was to know that we were so far away and we couldn't help. All I could say was "We'll pray for you" which I fervently did. My gratitude thought tonight is that all is well in Oklahoma, Ben is home and the aftershocks have hopefully ended.