Reason #135
I sat alone in the Chicago Midway Airport today eating a salad from Potbelly for lunch, trying to make a good, healthy decision for my waistline. Chicago is packed full of delicious restaurants, which I most definitely took advantage of. And so I gobbled down my salad and I began to think about the last time I sat in Chicago Midway eating Potbelly for lunch.
Thirteen months ago, I sat in the airport a few feet away from where I sat today and ate a Potbelly sandwhich. I sat at a table of four, on my way to Michigan for a funeral. I'm no stranger to the Midway airport, and until I walked through it on Wednesday I had forgetten how familiar I was with the place. It was early April and a weekend trip was being made to remember the life of a woman, a grandmother, with whom I had shared the same last name. A lady who sent me birthday cards and welcomed me with a gentle hug the first time we met. A sweet lady who made a point to surprise me with a cake the day after my 23rd birthday, extending the celebration. And I remember when the surprise cake was placed before me and the birthday song was sung to me. My name was misspelled on the cake and an attpemt to correct it was made by placing a sparkly flower on the incorrect letters. Of course, it was the bakery's mistake, and I thought was funny. No harm done. I felt special being celebrated and remembered by these people I had only been around a handful of times. And I didn't know that my 23rd birthday would be the last time I saw her. I didn't know that I would stand in the back of a family picture that summer, the final family picture we'd both be in. I didn't know that Christmas 2010 would be the last time I would receive a Christmas card from her. The weather was dreary and cold that weekend. An expected, yet unexpected, trip. And after her funeral, we gathered in her home. I looked through her things, admiring her old jewelry, her vintage hand-held mirror, the delicate china she had hand-selected as a young woman. Things to remember her by. And so the china, unwanted by others, was packed up and sent to my house, stored in a cabinet to potentially be used at a later date. A sweet momento. An heirloom to be passed on.
But in December the china found another home. A momento, none the less, but not one that was for my keeping. This sweet lady, who left this earth sharing the same last name with me, didn't get to see the full story. And truthfully, I think it is better that way.
So I ate my salad and I thanked the Lord that I was sitting in Chicago Midway at Potbelly with a different last name. A last name that suits me well for now. I thanked Him that 13 months ago He knew I would find myself right back in the same place I had been before and that I would be a stronger, wiser, changed person. I thanked Him that as this memory came back, tears and sorrow did not come with it. And to be honest, I was very surprised by that. I thanked Him that although that chapter of life came to and end, He is writing a new, beautiful chapter. A chapter full of surprises. A chapter full of redepmtion. A chapter that is much better than anything I could have ever penned on my own.
I finished my lunch, sipped my coke and walked to my gate with a smile on my face and a heart full of praise. Thirteen months ago my life was completely different. Thirteen months ago the plan was completely different. Thirteen months ago I had no clue what I was going to be facing. And sometimes He has to take you back to that place where you come to realize that the worst thing that happened to you turned out to the best thing that could have ever happened...you just didn't know it at the time.
#135 - Because He is always doing the best thing... even when it doesn't seem like it at the time.
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." - Psalm 32:8
Thirteen months ago, I sat in the airport a few feet away from where I sat today and ate a Potbelly sandwhich. I sat at a table of four, on my way to Michigan for a funeral. I'm no stranger to the Midway airport, and until I walked through it on Wednesday I had forgetten how familiar I was with the place. It was early April and a weekend trip was being made to remember the life of a woman, a grandmother, with whom I had shared the same last name. A lady who sent me birthday cards and welcomed me with a gentle hug the first time we met. A sweet lady who made a point to surprise me with a cake the day after my 23rd birthday, extending the celebration. And I remember when the surprise cake was placed before me and the birthday song was sung to me. My name was misspelled on the cake and an attpemt to correct it was made by placing a sparkly flower on the incorrect letters. Of course, it was the bakery's mistake, and I thought was funny. No harm done. I felt special being celebrated and remembered by these people I had only been around a handful of times. And I didn't know that my 23rd birthday would be the last time I saw her. I didn't know that I would stand in the back of a family picture that summer, the final family picture we'd both be in. I didn't know that Christmas 2010 would be the last time I would receive a Christmas card from her. The weather was dreary and cold that weekend. An expected, yet unexpected, trip. And after her funeral, we gathered in her home. I looked through her things, admiring her old jewelry, her vintage hand-held mirror, the delicate china she had hand-selected as a young woman. Things to remember her by. And so the china, unwanted by others, was packed up and sent to my house, stored in a cabinet to potentially be used at a later date. A sweet momento. An heirloom to be passed on.
But in December the china found another home. A momento, none the less, but not one that was for my keeping. This sweet lady, who left this earth sharing the same last name with me, didn't get to see the full story. And truthfully, I think it is better that way.
So I ate my salad and I thanked the Lord that I was sitting in Chicago Midway at Potbelly with a different last name. A last name that suits me well for now. I thanked Him that 13 months ago He knew I would find myself right back in the same place I had been before and that I would be a stronger, wiser, changed person. I thanked Him that as this memory came back, tears and sorrow did not come with it. And to be honest, I was very surprised by that. I thanked Him that although that chapter of life came to and end, He is writing a new, beautiful chapter. A chapter full of surprises. A chapter full of redepmtion. A chapter that is much better than anything I could have ever penned on my own.
I finished my lunch, sipped my coke and walked to my gate with a smile on my face and a heart full of praise. Thirteen months ago my life was completely different. Thirteen months ago the plan was completely different. Thirteen months ago I had no clue what I was going to be facing. And sometimes He has to take you back to that place where you come to realize that the worst thing that happened to you turned out to the best thing that could have ever happened...you just didn't know it at the time.
#135 - Because He is always doing the best thing... even when it doesn't seem like it at the time.
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." - Psalm 32:8
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