Why I've Been Gone

My very first grandbaby!

This is my son, Brad, holding

Magnolia Jean and my first

glimpse of her about 3 hours

after she was born on March 30th.

And here she's home and in
my lap. Considering her home
is over 2900 miles away from
me, it sure was hard for me to
come back to my home.

Well, I've got to grin and giggle a bit here, chances are no one even noticed I was gone! But I was, and now I'm back, and I'm telling everyone I had a week full of miracles and God's very generous grace poured over me. I don't know about you, but I know for myself that since the day my first husband died I often live life holding my breath and waiting for the next shoe to drop. I try to catch myself, but dread and worse case scenarios are always in the back of my mind. Waiting for a baby was an exercise in getting a grip, constantly giving it to the Lord and not giving in to worry and "what if's?...." Conversely, having a week full of miracles is not normal for me, and all I could do was simply receive each one as my heart welled with gratitude and thanksgiving.

The first thing was a blessing in disguise: We got to the airport in plenty of time for our 7:10 a.m. departure on Monday, March 28th. The flight was delayed. Great. We waited. We had our boarding passes. An hour or so later we let everyone get on ahead of us---who wants to sit on a plane any longer than necessary, right? When the gate attendant scanned my ticket she said, "The plane is full, there's only a seat for one of you." My first thought was, "No problem, I'll stand." It was inconceivable that we could not get on that plane! But we couldn't! It was overbooked. My chin started to quiver, eyes welled up with tears. Tom explains that we're going to see our first grandbaby be born... Me? I've walked away and am pacing. Long story short, the airline got us a taxi to Myrtle Beach airport where we caught a flight to Charlotte, to Chicago, to Seattle. (The original ticket was to Charlotte and a direct flight to Seattle, arriving at 12:30 p.m.) So we arrived in Seattle around 7 p.m., safe, sound, and even sane, with the outrageous airfare I'd originally paid fully refunded plus a whole lot more $$$! Miracle #1.

Miracle #2. The next day I talked to Stephy, my daughter-in-love, and she invited me along with her (and her mom) to her doctor appointment. I'd get to see the baby moving around on ultrasound. Since Maggie was due on April 1, and our departure tickets were for April 2, there was a chance she'd arrive late. I thought I'd at least go and see her on ultrasound. My biggest dread was that Stephy would go into labor as our plane was taking off and I wouldn't get to meet Maggie for several more months! If the ultrasound was as close as I'd get, so be it.
Well, I not only got to see Maggie on ultrasound, I got to see Stephy admitted to the hospital! Yay! And I got to text my son Brad and tell him to get his butt down there! And Tom raced to Brad's job and picked him up and they drove to the hospital together. So exciting!

Miracle #3. Maggie was born 24 hours later with no complications. Gratitude all around. And I got to hold her!

Miracle #4. My daughter Lisa moved back from Los Angeles to Seattle, arriving the same day I did! I was so happy to see her too!

Miracle #5. The entire duration of our stay---6 FULL DAYS---Seattle was SUNNY and 70 degrees! If you don't know what a miracle that is, you don't know Seattle.

Miracle #6. Tom and I took a drive north of Seattle to see if any tulips were out. Indeed, they were!














After the tulip fields we drove up to Anacoste on Fidalgo Island and then headed south to Deception Pass. Between Anacoste and the bridge though, we drove up Mt. Erie to overlook the San Juan Islands.

Miracle #7. As we gazed at the beauty of God's creation I suddenly heard the flapping of great wings, two shadows flew overhead, and then with some loud chirps two bald eagles landed in a tree less than 20 feet away from us. We were awestruck! And then I had two more days to hold Maggie!

Thank you for letting me share my miraculous week with you,
 ♥ ferree