Sheila Sims Iding
I am not sure why my life is so blessed with amazing people. I am not sure why I get to have so many incredible people surrounding my days. I am pretty sure God doesn’t keep count because if there were a bank account of special people in your life, I would be overdrawn and have to return some. (Not that I haven’t done the return thing.). So when your life is full of blessings of people already and God chooses to add more…you try not to question. You try not to wonder. You just revel in the blessings of it all.
Last night, a newly added family who has blessed my life for just over a year, invited us to their home. They had furniture they were replacing and they wanted Joey, Addie and Adam to have a chance to take the “old” stuff. Of course they didn’t want any pay…they just wanted to “pay it forward”. Young people setting up homes need furniture and “paying it forward” was payment enough for them.
So with grateful hearts and a big cargo van we met at their home for the pick up of furniture…thinking we were picking up a few things. Not realizing besides a sofa, end tables, accent tables and rugs…we would be picking up a few MORE things. In addition to the furniture…we received these amazing items:
- A special welcome at the door. Smiling faces I didn’t realized how much I missed.
- A home completely decorated for fall already. Every room had some autumn treasure. I know she stayed up late a few nights doing that.
- As I searched for the hug I wanted most (a Care Corner Kid from last year who moved away), there was no sight of her until….she ran into my arms like she had never left Care Corner.
- A bracelet lovingly made by my Care Corner Kid. The colorful woven strings were beautiful and I thought that was my favorite part until we sat on the floor together and she tied it on my wrist. Just sitting next to her again and talking like old Care Corner times was a gift.
- The food that this mini, young version of Paula Dean prepared for us.
She has spoiled my family with her cooking before so we already knew it would be special….and YUMMY.
- As I began to eat my food, a little second grade Christian reminded me that I hadn't prayed before I ate. So we held hands and prayed together. A treasured 10 second "grace" I won't soon forget.
- The special wine chosen for the ladies of the evening (that may not be worded right). The guys had beer. The ladies had wine.
- The crashing of their little son’s birthday party. Really? When you set up a date to come and she knows you are busy she just says yes. She even puts her son’s birthday on hold for you. Really? Yes…that is her heart and her family’s way. Thank YOU birthday boy! So…we picked up some birthday cake too and shared the birthday song like we were family.
- The tour of their beautiful home. It is the most beautiful, welcoming home I have ever been in. I really was excited for my family to see this home. (I’ve gone on about it for a month.). I really wanted to tour twice…but that would seem creepy. I really wanted to take pictures of each room…but that is even creepier. It is the most beautiful home I have ever seen and I’m not going to pretend it isn’t.
- The furniture got moved (the reason we came) and the van got loaded and somehow that even involved some smiles and laughs.
- There were smiles and laughs as SuperMom, Addie and I talked about teaching and schools. (She helped find the job for Addie. Yes…her gifts to our family are endless!)
- There were smiles and laughs as Joey played Legos with the birthday boy.
- There were smiles and laughs as a former Care Corner Kid sat my lap so I could read the first chapter of the new book her 2nd grade teacher gave her. (Actually she earned it as a prize for being an Everyday Hero…I wasn’t surprised by that.)
- As the evening got late, the talk turned fun about sports and peanuts and door “features” and people we knew and things we had done. (Don’t ask. What happens at a lake house…stays at a lake house.) But there was smiling and laughter and giggling that spilled out onto the driveway as we were leaving.
So we left with the furniture…the sofa, the tables, the tables, the tables, the rugs, the accent pieces…that we came to get. Our van was full so it’s safe to say we came to pick up some things and got more.
The “more” was the extra furnishings they so GENEROUSLY gave. On their son’s birthday my sons and “daughter” received the gift of their giving.
But the REAL “more” was that welcome, the tour of that home, the laughter around that kitchen island, the reminded "grace", the incredibly behaved children as we crashed a family birthday, the “girl” talk in the living room, the chapter read in “my” polka dot chair with a view of the lake and a 2nd grader on my lap, the bracelet tied so lovingly on my wrist and the hugs goodbye with a reminder to me “don’t get weepy” and I tried not to but there was one last “run into my arms hug” to say goodbye and I got a bit weepy. But my heart was still smiling…all the way home.
Thank you special family for pay-it-forward furniture. We came to pick up a few things but we picked up special memories, shared laughter, hugs and a bracelet. We came to pick up a few things…and we picked up even more.