Extending Grace

Ever have those moments wear you just want to kick yourself in the seat of your pants? Let me tell you, I did this past Monday night. Actually, one kick would not have been sufficient. I have to start off this saga with informing you that I had salmon thawed out for dinner. However, the hubby had a hankering for waffles and bacon. He was even going to make the waffles and bacon with his handicapped self. However, we had no Bisquick in the house (his preferred method of preparing this breakfast food); neither did we have bacon. So, we decided to make a run to Aldi. And this was when the bright idea popped into my head and the beginning of a long night started.

You see, last week I had stopped into Aldi to buy some salsa and was giddy to discover the deal on pumpkins. All pumpkins, no matter the size, were $2. And they had some pretty big ones. Two bucks! I've never seen them so cheap. Last year, we did the whole pumpkin patch thing with our dear friends, the Holsingers, at Young's Dairy and had a blast. But part of that was simply the company we were with. Of course, the kids wanted to have that experience again, but when I saw those prices, I had second thoughts of any pumpkin patch.

So, Monday, when we were getting ready to make the trip to Aldi, I grabbed the camera thinking we would have our pumpkin patch experience there. After all, there was an entire isle of big huge boxes filled with pumpkins. The kids would still have fun picking out "just the right one." We park and Dan and J & L head to get a cart while I am unbuckling Claire. Even though Dan was wondering why I was taking the camera and thought it was pretty silly, I decided I still wanted to take it in. Hey, it was gonna make for a fun blog post if anything. I stuck the keys in the camera bag, but then at the last minute, I decided just to take the camera in and leave the bag in the van...with the keys still in it. And of course, I had locked it manually before shutting the door. I took about 5 steps and realized what I had done. Doh...

I ended up calling my sister who drove over and took me home to try and find my set of keys. Yes, I had locked Dan's keys in the van and I hadn't been able to find mine for a few days. (Dan found them the other day in the garage by the freezer. I think I must have left them there after delivering one of the bags of ice Dan needed for his shoulder surgery recovery time). I spent a good, long time looking for my keys. I finally had to call Dan with no good news. I grabbed the car key and headed to Aldi to pick up my tired and hungry family. I had told Dan I was on the verge of tears and I should have just agreed with his thought of taking the camera into the store as being silly.

And this is why I entitled this blog post what I did. We came home and as I served the kids turkey sandwiches, Lydia told us she didn't have the best of days...that her friend Maddie was sick and was not at school and that we didn't get to have waffles for supper. I apologized to her for the latter. She did not mean it in a hurtful way...just expressing her disappointment and she felt bad after I apologized to her. We all sat down and Dan prayed and thanked God for the food that we did have before us and for us to find mommy's keys. He could have gotten and stayed very annoyed with me, but he extended me grace during some moments that I really needed them. Thanks, babe!

And there you have it...I did get one picture with my camera. It was the sign on top of the store that said Aldi. Maybe I'll add it once I've gotten it onto Picassa. But that was the one and only picture I took. For when we got to the isle where the pumpkins had been, there was not one in sight. One of the managers told me they had sold fast. I shoulda known. Oh well, I think rather than the kids getting a lesson in money management (cheap pumpkins), they got an even better lesson in how to extend grace!