*I've hesitated to post this, because it is a bit personal. But it's also a really cool story, so I decided to go ahead an put myself out there.

Next week I will be heading out to Cali with my wonderful husband to spend a few days relaxing and escaping the craziness of real life. This trip is totally last minute and unexpected, and I couldn't be more excited about it. Life has been completely crazy with the house and the move and some seriously messed up stuff going on in my family. All I've wanted to do for the last 2 weeks is get away from it all. I've had this unshakable image of me laying on a beach reading a book, relaxing without a care in the world. I've wanted this so badly that I spent half of last week scheming how I could get myself to the beach, but there was just no way to make it happen financially. So, I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to let it go and accept the state of my life as it is right now.

On Tuesday morning I shared my frustrations and desires to get away with my small group. I told them all I wanted to pray for lately was that God would make a way for me to go somewhere, but that that felt like such a selfish, unspiritual prayer. They smiled and then prayed for me...prayed that God would, in fact, make a way for that to happen. Group ended and I went on with my day, at least feeling a little more peaceful about everything. Then yesterday morning Otis contacted me and told me he had been asked to take a last minute trip out to Cali. Apparently he told them that, since he had just gotten back from a week long trip, the only way he would go is if they would pay for me to go out there as well. Of course we expected them to say no, that's impossible, we're not running a travel benevolence service. Except we were wrong because they said yes. I think my jaw dropped to the floor when Otis told me it had been approved and asked what day I'd like to fly out. It took some time for me to believe it, and I kept waiting for them to come back and say, sorry, nevermind, we were just joking. And then I would have to kill them.

It wasn't until I received my itinerary with my flight schedule that I really accepted that this was happening. Some people would probably say it's just coincidence, but I prefer to believe it's God giving me a little glimpse of how much he loves me, and that he cares about even the not so important things like wanting to lay on a beach and soak up the sun.