Babysitting and Gas Cards...

Busy season has hit our family full on for the past week and a half, and it will continue for the next two months. There is usually a partial sense of exhilaration and accomplishment associated with the start of busy season, and those feelings are there this time as well. However, certain circumstances at work are making this season especially trying. In light of that I wanted to write a few things about my family and other things that always seem to lift me up. I’m not the type of person that gets sad or frustrated when my family is doing fun activities while I’m working my way through seemingly endless issues late into the night (I realize that it is not always fun and games at home either; Summer always works much harder than I ever do at my job). I actually feel a lot better knowing that Summer and the boys are having fun together, experiencing joy, and are just plain happy. So here are a few stories that brought a smile to me recently and revived memories of so many good times from before.

The weekend before busy season started Summer and I wanted to make it to the Temple to recharge the best way we know how. That Saturday morning Summer went for a run at the community center and Coleson eagerly went with her. Coleson might have run about a mile before heading down to the basketball courts to watch some kids from our neighborhood play on one of the community teams. He sat next to KyAnn, who is a wonderful woman that lives down the street from us. When Summer came down after her run, KyAnn asked her when we would be dropping the boys off. Perplexed, Summer asked her what she meant. KyAnn replied, “Coleson told me you and Brian were going to the Temple and he asked if he and Ammon could come over to our home and have us watch and play with them. He’s got it all set up; so again, what time are you dropping the boys off.” Yup, Coleson set it all up, not much gets past this kid. That night we dropped the boys off at KyAnn’s house and they had a great time playing with everyone. KyAnn has a little girl that is about 3 ½ years old, Shayla. Shayla loves to play with Coleson, and when she was in nursery at church she would always talk to Ammon. She recently received a new baby girl doll. Apparently, she likes Ammon so much that she named her baby doll Ammon. KyAnn tried to explain that her doll was a girl and Ammon is a boy name, but that didn’t matter to her; the little doll that she loves to play with would be named Ammon, case closed. When we picked the boys up that night they were both so happy and had had a wonderful time. We were there for over 20 minutes just watching Coleson and Shayla run around the house, with no awareness that it was well past bedtime. As we left that night I was reminded of the goodness of the people that we are able to associate with on a daily basis, and this night also reminded me of the specific goodness this family has shown us in the past. Here’s the specific experience this whole night reminded me of.

About a week and a half after Ammon was born over two years ago, Summer and I were at home when a knock came at the door (we received a lot of welcome knocks on the door after Ammon was born). KyAnn also has three teenage daughters named Jill, Carrie, and Paige; and they were standing there on our doorstep. One of them handed me a thick envelope and simply said something to the effect of, “hope all is well, we’ll see you later.” Before I could really say anything more than thanks they were off the porch and heading home. I assumed the envelope contained birth congratulations or a get well soon card for Summer (it would still be quite some time before Summer would be able to do anything physical or quickly). I gave the envelope to Summer and we opened it together on the couch. There were no cards, but instead several pieces of paper, a couple of receipts, and two cards that looked like they were from Flying J (a gas station chain). We were confused to say the least. We quickly read the first page and it essentially said the following: “We heard about Ammon and understand that he will probably be in the hospital for some time, so we wanted to do something to make it easier. After thinking about it for a while, we thought it might be helpful if we could get you some gas cards to pay for the fuel in your cars as you drive back and forth to the hospital. We put together a short letter and passed it around the neighborhood explaining what we wanted to do and if together we might be able to purchase some gas cards. We gave a short deadline and people have been dropping off money at our house non-stop for the past few days. We were actually quite surprised about the incredible response and how much was donated, it far exceeded our expectations. You’ll find in the envelope two gas cards, one for each car. Each gas card contains well over $200 (around $500 all together). Thank you for letting us serve you and be part of this miracle.” It was signed by these three wonderful girls. Summer and I were obviously beside ourselves. I kept looking at the receipts and turning the gas cards over and over in my hands. It took us a half an hour to regain our composure before we could walk down to their house and somehow tell them thank you. I remember KyAnn stressing to us on that day that these girls came up with the idea, drafted the letter, purchased the gas cards, and everything else all on their own. They just couldn’t get over the response from so many people and had no idea it would be this big so quickly.

At the time I’d thought this was miracle enough, we had already been so greatly blessed, but here’s the interesting end to this story. For over two months Summer traveled daily, sometimes two or three times a day, to be with Ammon at the hospital. The drive was a little over a half hour each way from our home (when I drove to the hospital after work it was still about a half hour past our home). On the day after Christmas when we were going to the hospital to pick up Ammon and bring him home, the tank was empty and we stopped for gas. Almost without thinking at this point I slid the gas card into the reader and pumped the gas. I stood there in the cold brisk wind, pumping the gas, and eagerly thinking of being with Ammon. The receipt printed out and I noticed that the funds on the card had been depleted. I stared in stunned silence at the receipt and again just turned that gas card over and over in my hand. The card had perfectly paid for all the fuel that was required, right up until the last tank, for the last drive, for the last time we would have to travel to see Ammon instead of just being with him at home. I’ve thought many times since how interesting that was, and it is interesting isn’t it. Miracles many times have a way of making us think, and stand back in awe, even those miracles that involve three special young women, a neighborhood of good people, and a couple of gas cards.