an amazing weekend, part 2

I started this segment two weeks ago.  Oops!  I just realized I never blogged about the rest of that magical weekend.  *Warning: this post might be heavy on both photos and words.*

So, that weekend a couple weeks ago continued.  If you remember, we had the wedding downtown Friday night.  We had told the boys that we weren't going to Tom's Farm because the wedding party was getting together again Saturday night.  We go to Tom's Farm every year with our friends, and they love it, so we had to fabricate a story to curb their disappointment. 

We left our house and went to eat dinner, then headed downtown.  When we pulled into the FedEx Forum, they started asking, "Where are we going?!  What are we doing?!"  We finally told them that we were not there to get together with the wedding party, but to see the Fab 5 perform.  I think they all started screaming.  Which is why, when I took this picture, they all looked like this:

 I especially like the look on Jonah's face.  Before I go on, I have a story.  Ever since the Olympics, Jonah has been head over heels in love with McKayla Maroney and borderline obsessed with the Fierce 5 (I forgot they had to change their nickname to "fierce" instead of "fab"!).  Every single day that the Olympics was on, we sat glued to the t.v.  Especially when it came time for our gymnasts to perform.  Before the Olympics had even ended, he found out about this Kellogg's tour they were doing and insisted that he wanted to go.  He then proceeded to ask every single week, at least one time each week. 

I wrote a blog about this, remember?  I wanted him to be able to go so badly.  Not just him, but all of us.  Because, let's face it, as a family of six, doing things like this are extremely expensive.  We never go to concerts, or sporting events, we never even go to movies.  All because it costs a small fortune for us all to go.  I should also say here that Todd and I live debt free.  We do have our everyday bills~mortgage, MLGW, water, my suburban and money that we pay out to doctors not covered by insurance, but that's all we have.  We do not have any credit cards. 

Needless to say, unless God Himself provided a way for us to go, we were not going to go.  I remember thinking that, and then I remember having this "light bulb" moment.  You know the kind...you think a thought and all of a sudden you're like, "Oh!".  Psalm 37:4 says that if we "delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart."  I don't mean that He's this genie in a bottle.  But I do believe that when you walk with Him and have that close, intimate relationship with Him, He makes things happen!  Especially when it's something for someone else...like this desire I had for my kids. 

I just started praying for Him to provide a way.  I knew that if this was something we were meant to do, He would make it happen.  And if not, I knew He would shut a door.  I prayed exactly that.  I never ever in a million years want to do something not in His will, so I always pray that His will be done in our lives.  All desires of my heart aside.  I prayed this prayer for several days.  On Thursday, I had the thought that maybe what I was asking wasn't going to happen.  And you know what?  If not, I was okay with it!  We had never said anything to our kids, so the only one disappointed would have been me. 

Well, we have a friend we used to go church with that is the official chiropractor for the Memphis Grizzlies.  Todd had called him a few days before to ask if he had any connections that could possibly get us in at a discount.  He promised to check, but Todd never heard anything else.  On Thursday morning, our friend called Todd and told him that we had six tickets waiting for us at will-call at the Forum!

I immediately started thanking God for providing a way for us.  And I cried all day.  I knew that our kids would be so excited about going, and I couldn't wait to see their little faces!  We kept it a secret until we pulled into the parking garage.  And they were thrilled, as you see from the above picture. 

My point in telling you all of this is this: God knows exactly what is on our minds and hearts.  When we present our needs to Him, it comes as no surprise to Him.  So, why not pray for Him to make things happen for us?  Not selfish things, like winning the lottery, because that is not honoring to Him.  But the testimony that my kids saw from our miracle is that He does hear and answer our prayers.  Maybe not always in the way that we wanted, but His ways are higher and better than our ways! 

So, let me encourage you.  DO NOT GIVE UP.  Trust Him.  Believe Him.  Have faith in Him that He will provide for you.  No matter the circumstance, no matter the need.  When you walk with Him, and spend time with Him and honor Him with your life, He will provide a way!  Or he'll shut a door and change your heart so that you're okay with it, as I mistakenly thought He was doing in me before we got that phone call. 

Be encouraged, my friends, and give to Him all your needs and worries.  He truly cares for you!  (1 Peter 5:7)  All praise and glory to Him alone.

The rest of our amazing night looked like this:

We were in one of the boxes, and our seats were amazing!  The boys loved that we had a counter in front of us to lean on.  It's all about the small things, my friends.  ;)

 Todd turned his mobile hotspot on, and while Graham was browsing on Instagram, he saw that McKayla was signing autographs in the Kellogg's fitness zone.  Thank the Lord he saw that, or we would never have known!  We had no need to go down to the main level, so we really would have had no clue. 

In the fitness zone, they had to complete all these tasks, then they got to see:

 You guessed it.  McKayla.  :)  Drew's trying to look all nonchalant, but on the inside he was dancing, I assure you.

Then came Jonah's and Graham's turn.

 Jonah had very sweet dreams for the next few nights.  They said that her voice was very high pitched, something that was unexpected and fascinating for them all.  The reason she was down there signing autographs is because she is currently hurt.  She had surgery on her knee, so she's in a leg brace and on her other leg, she's in a walking boot.  I don't know why, but poor girl!  She hobbled in at the end of the show on crutches and performed in a farewell routine for three minutes. 

 Sorry it's blurry, but you get the point.  I hate that Noah's picture got messed up.  Some crazy woman was in the process of going nuts on a security guard and messed up his picture.  You know the type, we've all seen it happen.  I'm ashamed to say that this woman used to be a mom on one of our kids' baseball teams and she was cray cray then, too!  And just this past Spring, she went whack-o on my poor hubby.  She's lovely...I wish I'd gotten a picture of her! 

The rest of the evening was awesome.  The show was great and the boys were amazed watching them perform.  It was surreal seeing all the girls in front of us to me, I can't imagine what it was like for them! 

 The above image was the last five minutes of the night.  You can see McKayla with her leg issues in it.  Jonah was glad he got to see her one last time.  It was a magical night, and one we will never forget.  The boys still talk about it. 

To our friend who so graciously arranged for us to have the tickets~thank you from the bottom of my heart.  You were part of our miracle, so thank you for allowing God to use you.  We will never forget your generosity. 

Love to all.