A Great Way to Begin Lent

My husband gently nudged me awake at 6am. The baby and I had drifted back to sleep after he woke at 4:30. When he woke me I had no idea what time it was.

D: "Wake up, I need your help."

M:"Huh" And of course the first thought that came to my mind, as would any mother's on being woken in the middle of the night with a request for help was, who threw up?
But wait, he's completely dressed, that can't be right. What time is it anyway?

M: "What's wrong?"

D: "I locked myself out of the car..."

Now I admit, before I heard the rest of the sentence, I thought, good grief, grab the other set of keys and unlock it, why do you need my help? But wait, then came the rest of his sentence.

D: "...at the 7-11 (local convenience store down the road from our neighborhood)"

M: Stares at him stupidly. "What?...How did you get here?"

D: "I begged some guy to bring me home. I tried to call. I'm late, get dressed quick."(the phone was in the kitchen, no way I was going to hear it)

M: "Um, okay. Go wake Lilly to hold the baby so I don't have to drag him out in the cold."

Off he goes. I hand off the baby and quickly get dressed. All the while he's rushing me along. That's okay, I knew he was anxious. He goes to start the van. I get in. There's some frost on the windshield.

M: "Its kind of hard to see..."

D: "You'll be fine, hurry up, let's go... (here's the good part)...the engine is still running on my car." (at the 7-11)

Apparently, because it was so cold this morning, he had left the car running, key in the ignition. He took the little remote lock thingy with him, locked the car and ran in to get some coffee. It seems the little remote lock thingy won't unlock the car when the engine is running, you need the actual key, which was in the ignition.

That is how I found myself at 7-11 at 6:20 am. I discovered I was the only woman at the 7-11 at 6:20 am when I ran in to get my cup of coffee. I was not unnoticed by the many Latino workmen getting their morning coffee. I know this because they thought I couldn't understand them speaking Spanish.

This is what happens when you ask God to really help you stick to the discipline of daily morning prayer before the children wake up. I came home and prayed. I thanked God for my husband who works so hard for us every day. I thanked God that he is here, with me, every day.

I can't wait to see how our Lord gets me out of bed tomorrow.