Last Thursday we woke up to the birthday boy turning fifteen and no hint of what was ahead of us that day.  Nadine had a doctor’s appointment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to get a CT scan of her sinuses.  It was something that we really couldn’t reschedule, and I wasn’t worried a whole lot about the weather.  She was a champ, and we got these images back, along with the news that she will be having surgery in January to remove a polyp.  Yeah, that mass of grey on the right should be black.  Sinus issues seem to like our family, and we’re praying this is an isolated issue.

When we left the house, the sky barely looked like snow.  As we left our appointment, however, there was a mini blizzard going on outside.  Elsie was with us, and we had been planning on grabbing a bite to eat in the city before heading home.   We scratched that idea as it looked like the roads weren’t plowed one smidge and google maps was showing a whole hour longer than usual to get home.

As we snailed our way out of the city and onto the highway, it didn’t really get any better.  Maybe exiting the highway to take a “short cut” off the beaten path was a bad idea.  It was showing 47 minutes faster, though, and we had already been driving almost that long.  The math was very simple: every minute, the commute became a few minutes longer.  So I exited and made my way across completely unplowed roads.

Cars were beginning to slide down hills and into ditches.  Mind you, I was in our huge Sprinter van.  In the back of my head was the one time I had dropped the big kids off at school last year.  To leave required driving up a steep hill, and I realized too late that it was pure ice.  Our van started to slide backwards, with all my little babies in it.  It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. After a few attempts, I did eventually make it out, as a guy threw salt under my tires and I had the pedal to the metal.  That ordeal was all I could think of as we twisted and slid a few times, avoiding cars which had completely crashed or slid into ditches and trees or eachother.  My body was shaking so badly, so when the opportunity presented itself, I pulled into a Starbucks parking lot.  I promptly put my head down on the steering wheel and cried.

So grateful to be in one unscratched piece, we got out, ate at Olive Garden, and spent a couple hours in Starbucks until I felt courageous enough to venture back out.  We finally arrived home at 7pm.  Only 6 hours after we had left the city.

Why do I tell this story?  No reason really, except to say, sometimes we have do things afraid. I seriously wanted to sleep at Starbucks.  I didn’t want to subject myself to more fright.  I wanted to be safe, warm and cozy.  But I had to get home, so I drove, hands shaking perhaps, but moving forward.

I know you have uncomfortable, even scary things which are facing you right now.  You’re not alone.  But it’s so important to stay the course and not pull over forever in a Starbucks parking lot.  Slow down, but don’t quit.

The end of our drive found me in front of our house, the boys shoveling out a parking spot for me.  It was beautiful.  I think another reason really challenging seasons come to us is so we are put back into a place of gratefulness and not taking advantage of how amazing and glorious it is to have another minute to live and breathe.  Hands shaking, maybe, but there is oxygen flowing.  Even while the snowflakes are falling.