Life's Storms

Today is Chris and I's wedding anniversary. I woke up to a beautiful blooming red roses and a card that made me all teary. Noah looked at me in his highchair ready for breakfast and smiled as if he had been keeping his daddy's surprise a secret. I turned to him and said aren't they pretty and he laughed in delight. It is really hard for me to get out with both boys so I had no present for Chris. I thought all day long about what I could do for him. The easiest thing I could think of was picking up dinner from his favorite place, Texas Roadhouse. The only problem, they don't do curbside service, so I called them up in hopes they would do me a huge favor and bring out my order to the car so I didn't have to load up Noah and Luke to get inside. I spoke with Becca the manager, who answered the call, I explained Noah was special needs and wondered if they would bring the food out to me, and apologized for any inconvenience, she said she would be more than happy to help us and to call back when I was ready to place my order. I was so excited, to be able to get Chris his favorite meal, since we really are unable to dine out without Noah having a proper chair to eat from.

I packed up the boys and headed out only to find myself half way there in a tremendous storm. Suddenly without warning, the car was overwhelmed with blowing winds, hail and rain so hard that I could see nothing in front of me. Noah began to panic and scream in fear, he quickly took his eyes off his Elmo DVD, and remained fixated on the windshield with terror. I also was fearful, being with both the boys and caught so quickly with this storm. The clouds were swirling and I had no idea if I was facing potential tornado without shelter, and the streets immediately began to flood. There was no where to pull over, so I kept going, I only had a few more blocks to go before I had made it to my destination.

I called Texas Roadhouse when I arrived and they immediately brought my food out to the car in the pouring rain. The waitress was soaked in a matter of seconds. My car window had let in a huge puddle of water that drenched the side of me and the entire car door. The only thing I had to help me absorb the water was a size 4 Huggies Natural Diaper of Noah's and it gets a five star rating for the amount of water it absorbed. Way to go Huggies!

If you patron Texas Roadhouse off of 52nd & Wadsworth in Arvada, please give that manager an extra thank you the next time you go for being a person that has such kindness, care and willingness to help a mom like me. Tip them extra big. They deserve it.

The drive home was nothing less than eventful, the streets under the overpasses had begun to flood and I had to go through two of them. I was blinded by water from other cars and the rain and I could not judge how deep and if I could make it or not. The water had made it to the doors of the car, but thankfully, I made it through, as Noah screamed on while inside I was doing the same. I knew that God had brought us to safety when the sun came out all the while the rain continued it's downpour. It created a foggy type of light, and Noah closed his eyes to rest briefly, something he never does in his car seat. That is what God's love feels like. The love during the storm. He is always... always there. And he continues to get me through some very difficult things in my life.

It was definitely the most challenging anniversary present to date. Next time I think I'll check the weather channel before leaving home. We really put Noah's sensory issues through the test. Poor little guy will probably sleep extra well tonight from all the anxiety and fear the trip created for him. And We give our thanks to God for seeing us through and keeping us safely in his hands.



Love,



Noah's Miracle by Stacy Warden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.