Only in Shafferland

Thank you all so much for the kind words from yesterday. Thanks for lifting us up in prayer as we wait to see what God has next for our work family! Lots to think about and consider for the future, for sure, but He knows it all, and I'm so grateful!

Meanwhile, how about a crazy Shafferland story. Are you up for it? 

I can't remember if I told you all about the night back in early winter when Ryan and I pushed a car that had stalled. So in case I never told you (or you missed it or have forgotten) I'll give you the quick version. It was cold out but not HORRIBLY cold. It wasn't to that part of winter yet. Ryan and I were off duty and had gone grocery shopping. We were trying to pull into the parking lot for the grocery store when we got stuck behind a stalled SUV. There was a woman inside with a small child, and she had called for help, but was obviously distressed at being stranded on a busy four lane road during rush hour (and it was almost dark out). I understood that. I've been stranded before.

Ever the good Samaritan, Ryan volunteered us to help her, so we went around her, parked in the parking lot, ran back down, and started pushing. It was all fun and games until we got her around the corner and the road into the parking lot went uphill. Much more so than it ever looked when we drove it. I was in boots with heels and have no upper body strength, so I was pushing with all my might. We were both laid straight out horizontal to her bumper and seriously only through God's power did get that car into the parking lot. 

After it was over, I truly thought we might die. Pushing an SUV in the cold night air literally took our breath away like never before. (Ryan assured me we would be okay. And that Lamaze class I took 20 years ago when my friend Trudy had a baby sure came in handy!)

So just keep that story in the back of your mind.

This past weekend's story actually starts in that exact location - just outside the grocery store. Ryan and I were on duty alone and had gone out to run some errands. We decided to do our grocery shopping while we were in the area, and JUST as we got ready to pull in the lot, we realized we were in the work van and our Aldi bags and quarter were in OUR car, back at WillowBridge. 

I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that every single time we go to Aldi (without fail) there's an untethered cart in the corral. They're always snuggled in their line, but there's always one that isn't plugged in. Almost every time we go, we encounter a person who is returning a cart and is willing to donate it to us in the parking lot. We always offer our quarter, but they almost never take it. 

Saturday? No one was returning carts. And every cart was locked up tight. Every. Single. One.

I had a dollar bill in my purse, so Ryan took it next door to the Dollar Tree to see if they would make change. It's a no. 

Oh. And did I mention that we haven't been properly grocery shopping for three weeks? And that we were also doing some grocery shopping for WillowBridge? 

We did the only thing we could do. We walked inside, scrounged up an empty box (each) and started hauling our groceries by hand, the good old fashioned way. 

Ryan found so much more humor in the moment than I did. Today I can laugh. Saturday I wasn't there.

We left the store and headed back home. We were just a handful of blocks from WillowBridge when we came upon a small pickup truck stranded on the road. We pulled up beside it and found a young and mostly terrified teenage boy in the driver's seat, staring helplessly at the dash. He told Ryan the truck just died. Everything just locked up and died. 

Ryan told him we would pull over and he would help the guy push it off the road. It turned out he was a pizza delivery guy and he was just trying to get a pizza to its owner. Ryan pulled into the ice cream shop and told me to stay put while he pushed. (He must have remembered last time.) I honestly would have helped, but I thought the driver was going to steer and push while Ryan also pushed. I was wrong. Ryan was pushing alone and as they started up into the parking lot, Ryan lost his footing on loose gravel and I saw him go down behind the truck. I screamed. I could just envision that truck backing over him and crushing him. Before I could get out of the car to run across, some gentleman materialized out of nowhere and pushed so Ryan was safe. (He said it was no big deal, he wasn't hurt, and it wasn't as bad as it looked.) 

Another pizza delivery person showed up and rescued the stranded pizza and driver...we got home safely with no more debacles...and we have now tucked a couple of bags and a quarter into the WillowBridge van. Just in case...