G.B.W.M.

I saw a suspicious car pull through my driveway earlier. I was sad that it didn’t stop. But then I realized with this whole #SocialDistancingThing, no one was stopping. Such false hope.  And then lo and behold a little while later my dear, sweet, gracious and kind friend Elizabeth Henthorn sent me a text that said, “go check your mailbox!”  📫

So, in my daytime pajamas – because we all know that they are different than our nighttime pajamas nowadays — or at least you should be knowing that after the first full week of #socialdistancing during the #coronavirus pandemic — I padded out to the mailbox. I had mentioned to Liz in an text earlier this week that if she found diet 7Up and Fritos chips available at Walmart to let me know. I expected she was being sneaky about a small token of those “needed” Walmart items.

As I was walking out of the garage, down the driveway to the road, I was slightly worried about who would see me in these “daytime pajamas,” as there were three men working in the yard next door. However, I quickly convinced myself on the short walk to the mailbox that I wasn’t really in pajamas. I was proudly wearing exercise pants. And they even were cropped, workout style, looking pants. So, I convinced myself that they would maybe think I had been working out and it didn’t look like I was in my pajamas. So that made me feel proud of myself for the day. I felt like I was winning at that moment!

I opened the mailbox and there was this precious blue and white striped box. And the box is so amazing that when you open it, it pulls out like a drawer coming out of a night stand. The box and the contents just gently and beautifully slide open to reveal what was on the inside. I proudly walked back towards the house, sporting my “workout clothes,” and continued to read the card and open the box.

My heart stopped when I saw the precious, simple and oh so meaningful bracelet with a charm on it. I knew immediately what the four letters, GBWM, meant. It was what I repeated over and over and over again in my head and in my heart as I lived in Bolivia….God Be With Me. GBWM!

Liz had recently read my story on this blog post and wanted me to have a reminder to keep telling my story because my story matters to His story. And this couldn’t have come at a better time. I’ve pretty much wasted the week of spring break doing nothing. Now mind you, its spring break and we can only DO NOTHING this year. But, in these days of the pandemic crisis of the coronavirus, these are days that need to be spent well. I want to be able to look back on this time and be able to say, “HERE! THIS is what I did with my time!” I don’t want to waste it. I don’t want to just simply survive, tho it may come to that..physically and emotionally! But I want to THRIVE in these days to come…I want my family to have good memories of these days….so they can “remember when…” I want to know that with every passing minute all I need to say or to pray is, “GBWM.” God will lead us in these times. He will guide us in these days. And He will order our steps along the way….and we’re all doing just that ….6 feet apart!

So, thank you friend for a token of grace and reminder of a calling….to be faithful, to know that God is trustworthy, to gather, to listen and to write about my story, for His glory. I’m embracing this scripture from John 5:30-31 for this blog: “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true!”

Here’s to more posts…..pandemic or not. #MystoryforHisGlory

The inside of the greeting card states, “It’s nice having a friend who’s as normal and mature as I am.” I’m not sure who is who on the card….I’ll assume I’m the one on the left…. I have memories of me at age 7 posing like that!

The the blue card included with the engraved bracelet reads, “Engraved especially for you. I’m your key to unlocking memories, to celebrate life; your reminder to never forget what matters to you. I’m a way to tell your story. Happily yours…..”