Date Night.....

I had myself a hot date tonight.
Good news is.....he already loves me madly.
Bad (and good!) news is....I had to share him with two other ladies.

Ah well.....take what you can, right?

Anyway....man of the hour (aka my nephew) picked a dinner spot and then chose to "take" us chicks out for ice cream.

(Good man.  Good good man.)

As we were driving I totally tuned out to the incessant talking was focused on driving and only half listening to the chatter in the back seat.

Then I heard the word "tornado" and (as always) my ears perked up.

"We had the second biggest tornado you know," said my nephew to his other dates.

"And even though it wasn't super big...if it sucked up that house (pointing to a rebuilt home) while we were right here then we would probably be in heaven."

The girls loudly agreed with him.

As they discussed which houses had been "sucked up" and which hadn't....I thought about what my now 7 year old nephew remembered from that night in my basement.

So I asked him.

"I we-member dark trees falling by the window.
And noises.
And my head was getting wet 'cause water was falling on it.

And I we-member a lot that lady who came over and was all wet. ...and she couldn't find her husband because he was at work.
(The neighbor we found crouched in her shattered home and brought over to our mostly intact basement).

And I we-member how that one house was knocked in half....
and how it was we-lly dark in that room we were sitting in."

Wow.
Lots of memories.
Pretty vivid for happening when he was 5.

But then he continued.

"And know what I we-member most of all, Aunt Shannon?
Better than anything?"

Me...."What's that?"

"That God was there with me and I knew he was."

Hard swallow.
Shaky smile.
Tears.
Don't turn around.

"That's right, Harry.
How do YOU know that?"

"'Cause he didn't let me be dead.
And he protected all my family."

Sweet boy.
Sweet sweet boy.

"And you know what else?"

Oh geeze.
I'm driving.
My heart hurts.

"What's that?"

"I'm gonna get chocolate ice cream.
Not coffee.
I don't want to be up all night."

And back to happy land he went....
Greeted eagerly by two little girls who wanted to discuss the merits of
coffee ice cream vs lemon ice cream.

Man.
Do I ever pray that his sense of thankfulness will stay with him DEEPLY forever....
even if he gets to the point where he can't quite remember WHY he feels it
because it happened so long ago.

Out of the mouths of babes....and all that.

It's awfully cool how God uses them to bring us such unexpected reminders of gratitude.

And how these beautiful children lead me to ice cream.