Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Days of Grace

A long time ago, my friend Sarah told me that God's grace comes in many different ways in motherhood. I wish I remembered verbatim how she put it, but the essence of her sentiment was that God provides for mothers.

I've never forgotten that conversation. Sarah probably has. She is a busy mother of three (Hi, Sar!) and probably forgets her gender most days due to exhaustion. So it meant a great deal when this friend and weary-but-wonderful mother would share this with me.

I thought of this yesterday as I was about to take Morgan to a birthday party. It was a bit of a rush to get there. I threw the baby in the car seat (no, I did not throw her...) and made haste to pick up another little girl and whisk ourselves to an hour and a half of birthday enchantment. The venue for this party was a really swanky little tea party place in Naperville. There are times when I roll my eyes at the hoity toity, but I was absolutely smitten by this darling little place. I'll spare you all the details, but know that there were purple walls, lots of sparkly things and real china cups. Oh my.

So as I dropped off my load (read: two little girls), I realized that I was footloose and fancy free. In downtown Naperville. With my little Eve. So fun.

I've been meaning to come here for some time because there's a special spice I needed for a recipe and, well, there's a Penzey's spice shop in Naperville. Can I tell you how much fun it was to go into a spice shop, tell them I needed Ancho Chile Powder and have the lady confidently ask "Small or large size?" *Swoon* I love it when I spend $3 in a hoity toity place but feel like I've spent $50.

And then, someone gave me a G*ap gift card a while ago and I haven't been able to use it, so off I went to Gap to get baby girl a little outfit.

As I spent the hour and a half gladly strolling the streets with my baby, I felt thankful. Wow... there is that grace I needed. There is that spice I wanted. There is that bit of time I didn't think I'd get. There is a little gift to me... a little refreshment. Thank you, God.

3 comments:

Short Stop said...

Ah, that sweet, precious, amazing grace. What would we do without it?

I love that you had a day with Eve - strolling along enjoying your new baby. And, that you found God's grace along the way.

BTW, in the 5 years that I've been a parent, I've never *not* been in a rush on the way to a b-day party. It's just part of the deal.

And, one more thing - I would have loved that spice shop, too! :)

Anonymous said...

I love Penzey's! Glad you found the spice that you needed...AND the break! :) The tea party birthday sounds so fun!!

Jenny

Jenni S. said...

Sounds like a wonderful little break for you. I love it how God just knows when we need something like that...and then goes above and beyond. Hope you get some more little breaks this week!