But Saturday morning at Grant's house- Andy, Grant and myself all got texts from Mom and Dad. They were at the animal hospital down the street with a very sick Chloe. Even via text, I could tell how sad they both were about it. They knew that it was time to have her put to sleep. She had been sick for a really long time, and was suffering that morning. Our faithful Dr. Faircloth was there, and Mom and Dad gave thanks for that, but it was still really hard.
At Grant's apartment, it felt like a cloud shadowed over what was supposed to be a really exciting morning. When it was almost time to head to the party, I thought, "I wonder if she's even going to be excited about this?" My mom is amazing, though. After such a tough morning, she posted on her Facebook page, "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." It was clear that she was making a choice to trust God, even with the day starting out in such sadness. Good thing, too, because if she had just crawled back in the bed, I don't know that we would have been successful in surprising her.
Dad and Moose Butler drove down to my Aunt Judith's house just around lunchtime with mom in tow. The premise was that they all were going to head to Costco in Raleigh for the afternoon, but they were going to just stop in and see my little cousins who were in town for a minute or two before heading on down the road. Mom reluctantly went into the barn to say hello to what she thought was going to be just a cluster of my Aunt Judith's family members. What she got instead was this...
The rest of the weekend was really nice. I'm so thankful that I have a mom who trusts the Lord at all times, and it was not only great to get to celebrate her birthday with her, but really special to be a part of God's perfect plan to comfort her and bring her joy.
Mom, I love you! Happy Birthday!
Sweet post, Meredith. So thankful we were able to be a part of the surprise too! Great pics of everything! Aunt Cheryl seemed really surprised and I am glad, as you mentioned, that she had joy and fun in a day that might otherwise have been mostly sad and painful. Your family is so special to me and I love you all. Miss you and Andy!
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