thankful thursday

I had kind of a rough day. Not all of it. It had good parts too. But on the whole it was kinda rough.

Kirb thought we should go out to dinner tonight. We all could use it, it seemed. We let the kids pick. They picked Red Robin. We weren't surprised. It's their favorite. So we piled in the van and headed north. We rarely, rarely eat out. Any of us. But especially all 8 of us together! We found our booth (the BIG one) and ordered (most everyone knew exactly what they wanted before putting their coats on at home). Normal stuff. At one point a dad at a table next to us smiled at Sara and said, "They all yours?" "Yup, they are." I answered. "And we think we've got our hands full with 2." his wife added (they had 2 boys, 2-ish and 1-ish by my best guess). I told them that they did and that when we had 2 we had our hands full too. Our waitress seemed to be at our table a million times (more fries, pop refills, refills on mac n cheese x 3, delivering Jacob's special allergen-free meal separate from the rest of the food). She was very sweet. She said that she had a girl who was almost 2 and her and her husband were talking about another, but she didn't know how we handled 6. At the end of the meal she brought our check. Between when she brought it and when she came back to get it Kirby told Lydia he'd give her a quarter if she asked the waitress if she loved Jesus. So, she came back to pick up the check and make sure we didn't need anything else and Lydia asked. She didn't answer right away and then she put her hand to her chest and said she thought she might cry. Then she answered with heartfelt sincerity: "I do. I love Him very much." and Lydia got a little teary too. When she came back to have us sign our slip she said, "She (Lydia) made my whole night." Then on the way out an older lady (80-ish, I would guess) at a nearby table grabbed my arm as I walked past and said "They are very well-behaved." I didn't get to chat with her long because Anna was making a b-line for the kitchen, but I thanked her.

I needed that tonight.

But, turns out about 2.8 seconds after we got in the van and had not even buckled everyone up, let alone left the parking lot, no one would have told us our children were well behaved!! And don't get me started on once we got home . . . Yikes! But you have to enjoy these things in the moment, right? You never know how short-lived they might be.

Jaqi from Red Robin and the young couple with the 2 little guys and the older couple, you all helped turn around my day from a rough one to one where I was reminded how blessed I am. For that I am thankful!