despite
despite a 'hit and run' that left me and asher and his two preschool friends in the middle of a city intersection
despite the lady fleeing the scene, leaving me with a totaled minivan and folks laughing and jeering at me on the sidewalk
despite asher's finger getting shut near the hinges of a heavy gym door for what seemed like minutes
despite the finger going flat then puffing up to twice the size of the others
despite sam running into a playground pole at school, causing a gash upon the forehead, with blood running down, taking care of it alone
despite a trip to the doctor for 5 staples that went in just like that...ka-chick, ka-chick, ka-chick, ka-chick, ka-chick
despite this all happening from a wednesday to the following thursday,
me and the kids were safe and unharmed in the van.
the totaled van gave us a new car, at least some towards it.
x-rays showed no broken finger.
6 days later and asher can make a fist with that puffed up finger.
the pediatrician put in the staples which meant no emergency room visit nor emergency room lines.
sam bounced back quickly to his entertaining self.
despite the week we've had,
our family jumped into 'survive and thrive' mode.
the boys grew more empathetic towards each other.
ben and i sat still in the evenings, grateful for His protection.
together, we said we could do a compact car rather than a van. it will be compact. it will be a squeeze. it will save us money. it meets the need.
the instant all of these incidents took place, we had to survive. we had to think fast. we had to think straight.
we had to hold each other.
we had to pray for each other.
we had to cheer each other on.
then we chose to thrive.
sure, it's easy to stay in survival mode.
you do what you can to coast through.
you try to keep your head up.
surviving is the first necessity.
surviving, sometimes, is all that can happen.
but for me, i could thrive going through this together.
key word being together.
throwing in the milkshake always help to thrive!
doesn't it, sam?