This blessing started when we moved in with Dan's mom three years ago. We were out of work and homeless without any other option while we waited for a job to turn up. She graciously opened her home to us and made every effort to make us feel comfortable and welcomed. Nevertheless, I remember feeling covetous when I drove around, resentful that people had homes while my family didn't. Looking back, I don't have great memories because I was in survival mode; putting my head down and plowing through it, sure that God's plan was going to be one of those tragic stories where everyone suffers years of poverty before some tear-jerking final scene. Of course that wasn't the case; four months after we arrived, Dan got a job in Texas. Three months later, I joined him and we bought a house. As far as I was concerned, that horrible episode was past--we could start rebuilding out life together and try to forget that really distasteful chapter we had just been through. It took losing Dan's mom several months later to bring things into sharp focus.
Those seven and a half months with her were a gift we were being given. It was a blessing to live with her and talk with her, comfort her and be comforted by her. I remember how much Logan loved helping Grandma or just sitting by her. He was a joy to his Grandma, filling her darkness with light. Once he said, "Grandma, you have such soft skin," completely melting her heart. I'm grateful he and Hannah have memories of Grandma that never would have been made had we not been "homeless" those few months. I didn't realize at the time that God was giving us a final window of opportunity to love and be loved every single day by an amazing woman--I didn't see the blessing because I could only focus on what I perceived was disaster. I should have trusted that "all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:24).
