The Turning Of A Page

But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31


I feel like the winds have finally changed. I feel as though we are getting over the hump of our hardships. Thanks to some encouraging words and nudging (thanks Fred), I finally stopped participating in my own pity party.


The first thing that I did was look up another MOPS group. At this time of year, MOPS is coming to an end, but I figured that I could still register for next fall and have something to look forward to. Most importantly, I wanted to find a church that hosted it where my family could worship and fellowship again. Up until a couple of weeks ago, our family continued to feel as though we had not yet found our home church. We had visited many in our area, but had yet to find that one.


Once I found Cross Timbers Church via the MOPS web locator, I knew I found a place worth trying. And one after one visit, I knew we were finally home. Everyone was casual, welcoming, and most importantly, real. There was no stuffiness or rehearsed feeling about anyone or anything. So, I signed us up for a small group knowing full well that we needed to jump right in and begin to finding our place.


Our first small group meeting was this last Sunday and to say the least, it was awesome. In fact, I know that we are exactly where God intends us to be. Our conversations went something like this.... (note that this church is about a 15 minute drive from our house.)


Gail (Small Group Leader): So, where do you guys live?
Me: We're in the Villages of Woodland Springs community.
Gail: Oh, we are too! We're around the food streets...we're off of Macaroon.
Me: You're kidding me?!? We live on Macaroon!
Gail: Oh my gosh...we're on the corner of Macaroon and Rum! Where do you live?
Me: On the corner of Macaroon and Angel Food.
Gail: You're the house with the big blue truck. I see you all the time. Your boys are constantly outside playing baseball. I drive the red Sunfire convertible.
Me: Oh my...I'm constantly pulling out in front of you as I take Jason to school.
Gail: Yes, that's right....I see you too and think, "Oh good, at least I'm not the only one running late!" [insert laughter]. Well, most of our small group actually lives on Macaroon too. In fact, here are Don and Terry-Jo.
Me, upon recognizing Terry Jo's face: I know you! I met you at the pool last summer. You were pregnant with your third child...you have two girls and I think one of them shares the same birthday with my oldest son. I remember being so excited to meet a potential friend, but then we never saw each other at the pool again. I was so bummed.
Terry Jo: You live by us?!? Oh how weird is that?
Gail: These are the big blue truck people on the corner.
Terry Jo: Ok...you're the ones with the boys who are always outside playing baseball.
Don (Terry Jo's Husband): Oh yeah, you guys are the ones with the two dogs. They got out one time and I called you but you were out of town. I talked with your husband about how they got out and how I was going to fix the fence for you cause you were in Arizona or someplace like that.
Kenny: That was you? Oh man, I've been wanting to personally thank you for that but never knew where you lived....how weird is this.
Me: This is a bit beyond coincidental, don't you think?
Don, to Kenny: So what do you do, man?
Kenny: I work over for American Airlines...I'm a mechanic.
Don: Ok, so you know (forgot his name) across the street from you?
Kenny: Yeah, I do...but he works out of DFW and I'm at AFW.
Don: Alright....yeah, I know someone who works out of AFW, but they work back in the corner by the test cells. (AFW base area is similar to 20 city blocks.)
Kenny: Yeah, that's where I work. [insert more boring conversation about aviation]
Don: I'm actually in the Navy with about 2 years left before retirement. I'm almost done with my degree in Professional Aeronautics from Embry Riddle.
Kenny: I was in the Navy for 8 years, but got out when Heather and I got married. I went to Embry Riddle too...in fact I have the same degree that you're going for...but mine is an Associates.
Gail: Hey Chris (another Macaroon resident), this is Kenny and Heather. They live on Macaroon too. They're the big blue truck house. They're joining our small group.
Chris: Oh yeah, you guys are the ones with the boys who play baseball outside all the time and they're always running around in their underwear.
Me: Yes, that would be us. (Make mental note to check for clothes before children run outside in the future.)


And so went the evening. More puzzle pieces were connected and all in all, the evening was too perfectly orchestrated to be chalked up as coincidence.


As we left, I felt as though an elephant had finally been lifted off of my chest. All I can do is praise God for a crystal clear answer to my many heart-cried prayers.