a random encounter

I woke up this morning with a new accessory.  Pink eye.  Awesome.  After a requisite trip to Target this morning (priorities, people), I decided to swing by the Minute Clinic up the street to get a script for drops.  Let’s rephrase… my frazzled self mustered up the courage to take three disgruntled kids into a teeny Minute Clinic exam room with me at the peak of flu season.  I gave them the “don’t touch anything!” lecture and the “only quiiiiet whisper voices at the doctor’s” lecture and the “if you’re really super good,  you can get a lollipop” lecture.  So, maybe the latter was straight up bribery.  Either way, it was a stretch, but I was desperate…. and a bit too vain to be walking around with a jacked up eye for days on end.

Well, our little clan burst onto the scene of CVS, completely ignoring the aforementioned “lectures”.  Mary Grace instinctively made a mad dash for the candy aisle, Carson began moaning about the injustices of his five year old existence, and Elizabeth… well let’s just say I shoulda/coulda used the Ergo today.  Girlfriend’s getting big!  Meanwhile, my state of frazzledness continued to rise as I waited to be seen.  After only a few minutes (thank you Jesus), the door opened and out emerges my provider for the day.  As luck would have it, said NP was a fellow student with me in grad school.  In Virginia!  Three hours away!  She took one startled look at my hyped up, loud little brood and asked, “sooo are these all yours?”  Ha.  Bless her heart, she got me in and out of there in a flash and probably let out one huge exhale as we all marched out.

The jury is still out on whether today’s random encounter with a former classmate was an instance of God’s graciousness in my life… or simply another opportunity to humble me.  I’m thinking the latter.