Lost & found on New Year's Day!

This morning began filled with noise and Christmas cheer as four of our nieces and nephews awoke to play with some of the toys they had received at our belated Christmas celebration and to read some of the special snow people books that lay in waiting underneath the Christmas tree.  One by one the adults woke up and began packing and readying themselves for the day as cars were prepared for the trips home from our humble little abode.  Since moving to Ohio, it has become tradition to celebrate New Year's together here since my little family and I spend our Christmases in sunny California.

By early afternoon, a quietness had settled over the house as my brother, sister-in-law, their four children,and my parents embarked for central and northeastern Pennsylvania.  Charlotte wandered from room to room as Adam and I kicked back and relaxed observing our little one as she played with toys.  Within a half hour, however, the peace and calm were unexpectedly disrupted when Charlotte Annie threw up; was it the Peppermint Brownie Trifle she had eaten after we watched the ball drop last night or perhaps it was from the new cereal she had tried at breakfast.  Regardless of the cause, she proceeded to vomit a couple more times throughout the rest of New Year's Day prompting cleaning of the couch and living room floor twice, washing the kitchen floor, disinfecting the tub and tub toys, and three outfit changes for both mother and daughter.  Her playful spirit and good natured personality have not been affected by this uncharacteristic sickness so my guess is she has had too many new foods/sweets/or it is due to our being off schedule rather than a virus of some sort.

Three weeks ago, Adam completed his last final on a Friday morning and by the next morning, we were on a plane headed for southern California.  We have been going nonstop throughout the holiday season and returned to snowy wintry Ohio just in time to host New Year's.  The next few days will involve a slower pace and hopefully time to recover from today's sickness.  At one point during the changing/bathing/cleaning sprees, I had hurriedly placed my necklace in the bathroom closet to discover a beloved charm was missing.  I spent ten minutes searching the other shelves, floor, and contents of the bathroom closet but to no avail.

This particular charm was sent to me as a complete surprise by my friend, Margo, from our time together in our doctoral program.  Margo now lives in Nebraska but we have thankfully been able to stay in touch not only as colleagues but as friends.  The summer after Charlotte was born, when she was about three months old, Margo sent me this sparkly package that contained a shiny silver charm that had, "It is well", engraved on it. Upon coming home from a Vacation Bible School planning meeting and opening that day's mail, I burst into tears when I saw what this small package contained.  What Margo couldn't have known was that the song, It is Well, had been personally selected by Adam and me as one of Charlotte's baptism mass songs that would occur later that summer.  Since then, I have gone back to the lyrics of this song countless times over the last 22 months as we journey this path of the highest of joys and deepest of sorrows.

 This is a posting I had made on the company's Facebook page that evening:  A dear friend sent me this necklace as a gift in the mail today. I am so touched by it. The backstory is that my husband of one year and I had our first child three months ago. Our little Charlotte Ann is truly our miracle baby as we had unexpected complications the night of her birthday that led to my almost dying before two major surgeries were performed the second of which was a hysterectomy. While we are overjoyed with our daughter I am also still processing all that has happened and working through the grieving/anger/denial/shock of it all. Some days are better than others but today was particularly rough for me which made seeing the surprise package in the mailbox all the more enjoyable. I knew I was going to cry when I read the information card about the company before opening the lovely little box. However, I completely lost it and bawled like a baby when I saw what the gift was. My friend had no way of knowing that we had heard this song at mass last weekend and had decided to have it be included as part of our daughter's Baptism Mass coming up in July. Love the Godicidence and thank you for what you do in helping to bring hope and healing to mamas! <3

Now that you know a bit more about this special charm, you can understand why I was so frantic about locating it when I realized it had fallen off the chain in the bathroom closet earlier today.  I sent up a quick prayer to St. Anthony as I gave up looking and went downstairs to check on the laundry.  As I walked back up the stairs with arms full of overflowing clean laundry, I stopped in my tracks when I saw something shiny gleaming up at me from the middle step of our staircase.  There, in the dead center of the middle of the stairs so that it was exactly eye level as I climbed the stairs, sat the missing charm!!  I have not the faintest idea how it got there but all I know is this.  It. Is. Well.  Yes, it is.  Even when sadness lurks in every corner, happiness is also there.  When disappointments can overshadow the joys, it is still well.  The Lord does provide even if it may differ from your expectations.  Support systems of family and friends help to get one another through tough times.

Today is the start of the new year.  This is the chance to make a fresh start and to change what is not working to try to do something else that may be more effective.  It      is       well.  Challenges help to make you into who you're meant to be and the good can hopefully be appreciated all the more after going through the not so good things.  It may be dark right now but light always finds a way to shine.  Looking at the context of today's events, Charlotte is fighting some sort of sickness but I 'm so thankful that she will be well eventually.  She is still here with us and is an overall healthy little girl.  I'm grateful for the smelly laundry because it means we have a precious little girl to wear those clothes.  I'm glad that our hugs and kisses help to make her smile as we clean the mess from her hair and neck because we have the physical ability to use our arms and mouths to provide comfort to her.  I'm thankful for the cleaning supplies to try to remove the odor from the carpet and furniture because it means we have a roof over our head and the means to furnish our home.

Yes, this sweet gift from Margo was lost and found today and I'm grateful for this tangible reminder that all is well with my soul even if it does not feel that way at times.  May 2018 be a blessed (and healthy) year for all!