New glasses... and a story

Being genetically related to me and J. is a near guarantee that you are going to need glasses at some point in your life.  Some succumb earlier, such as B. at the age of 4, and some later.  P. had been mentioning recently how it was getting difficult to see things so I knew her number was up.  Here she is in her new frames.  They are quite unusual and I think they look great on her.  She is happy with them and even happier than she can see again.

And now onto my story.  I don't know about you, but I love hearing stories of answered prayers, both big and little.  A cool thing happened this afternoon that I thought I'd share as a reminder that God cares about us all the time... even when it is somewhat little things.

My niece had spent the night last night and we arranged that I would return her to my sister-in-law today outside a theater in Lincoln Park where they were going to see a show.  Sounds simple right?  Well, if you know Chicago at all, you know that Lincoln Park is an incredibly busy and congested part of the city.  There is never any parking and it seems at all hours of the day it is bumper to bumper as you slowly drive down the street.  I had figured out my driving plan so that I would be able to double-park the boat van right outside the theater and my niece could hop out and I hoped not too many people would honk at me.  It was a great plan until I realized I missed my turn and would be heading the wrong direction on the street I needed.  No way was I going to let my niece out of the van and let her navigate crossing the street by herself.  As I was nearing the theater I felt myself growing more and more anxious about how I was going to make it all work out.  I've been battling huge amounts of anxiety recently and have been trying to make a conscious effort to not let it overwhelm me.  In an effort to regain equilibrium, I somewhat desperately asked God to make it all work out because I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do.  I then tried to put it out of my mind and focus on driving, telling myself that God would take care of it.

When I reached the theater, I saw that I was correct in my assumption that there would be no where to stop and get my niece across the street, so decided to find a way to turn around and come up going the correct direction.  (I should add that the theater is on Lincoln Ave., one of the few diagonal streets in the city and one that never fails to get me a little confused as to where I am.... I wasn't quite sure I would be able to find my way back if I made too many turns.)  I did turn on the first quiet street I came to hoping that there would be a driveway (Ha!) or something in which to turn around, when I look up and see my sister-in-law and nephew walking down the street from where they had just parked.  We were quite surprised to see each other and it was quite simple to pause the car in the street, let my niece out, and chat with my sister-in-law for a moment.  It felt so surprising and unusual that I have no doubt that God orchestrated the whole thing, including my missing my initial turn.

As I battle my inner anxiety  (which, by the way, really doesn't have an outward source... I think it's just a new twist to the battles I've been dealing with since January), I'm sure I will replay this story over and over to myself as I remember to "have no anxiety about anything".