Washed Away With Grace

Chapter 1: Silent Reflection


Elizabeth walked into the kitchen, set up the coffee pot and made sure that the orange light was switched on before walking over and plopping down onto the loveseat to wait those long 5 minutes until the smell of fresh brewed coffee would waft thru the air bringing her back to her feet. It was quiet in the house and she enjoyed the few moments of solitude. This was the only time she ever had to herself as of late. Having five children plus doing daycare cut the "her" time down to practically nothing, especially considering two of her kids were teenagers. Used to be, even with a full house, the kids would go to bed at a reasonable time but now that they were older, bedtimes were pretty much non-existent.
Being able to enjoy even just a few minutes of peace and quiet to sip her coffee and reflect on the past, while pondering the future. What a past to reflect on and a future to ponder…To even delve into any of it this morning would be pointless. There was little time today. Her little daycare boy would be dropped off in 10 minutes or less and so much had happened in her life that ten minutes wasn't nearly enough to even start any type of thought processes. This morning she would utter a prayer asking for God to direct her day and keep her family safe and that would be enough.
She pulled herself up off of the blue and white checked plaid loveseat back into the kitchen. She pulled her special mug out of the cupboard and set it on the counter. She always used that mug. Her husband, although always portraying himself as a hard-nosed, unemotional man on very rare occasion would allow himself to slip-up and show the tiny sliver of the sensitive side he had. This mug was one of those slip-ups, a Mother's Day gift given to her after the death of their premature daughter Grace That tan oversized mug with flowers scattered randomly around it, the little angel girl flying in the corner and the words "There's an angel watching over you" meant more to her than many of her "pretties". . Even when she had little time for reflection, holding that mug to her lips each morning when her day began was like giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek and accepting a kiss from her angel girl in return. Every day she used that mug was a daily reminder of the baby girl that her husband lovingly referred to as Gracie. The mug was 8 years old; her daughter Grace would have been Eight and a half years old had she survived. Her mug was so very important to her that her hubby went back for it after the other most devastating thing of her life had occurred… The flood…
From the other room she heard the sound of her littlest blessing stirring. It was going to be a long day if she woke up already. Elizabeth breathed a silent wish that her little daughter would continue to slumber. She saw the headlights of her daycare dad's truck pulling into the drive, yellow beams of bright light breaking thru the dark. "Hmm… It will be a miracle if she stays asleep now, guess we will see soon enough!" Elizabeth murmured to herself.
Elizabeth went from sipping to gulping her cup of coffee down. She didn't want to share this moment of reflection, especially considering she didn't believe she would have time for anything but an uttered prayer this morning and God had provided much more after all. Didn't he always?? There were times that she would forget, but mornings like this would bring her mind around how wonderful her Heavenly Father truly was. Even in the midst of a hurried morning, He provided ample time for her to reflect and ponder after all!