On Friday afternoon, Matt told me he wanted to do some errands after work and he would be home a bit late. He asked if I wanted him to come by and pick up Isla but I said, no, I wasn't ssure how long she would nap and it would probably be best to leave her here. Good thing, because after Matt's first stop he got called back to work. He called me just as I was starting to make supper to say he was going back to work and didn't know how long he would be. I was disappointed but supper was still a couple hours away (we were making pizza) so I wasn't too worried that he was going to miss his favourite meal. But he did and Isla went to bed without seeing Matt all day and he came home just before 8 saying that he would have to go back in Saturday morning. I was disappointed, we had plans to go to the farmers market. But my sister and I decided that we would go together without him and we went to bed.
Saturday morning, Matt got up and left for work, I got up with the girls, we had breakfast and visited with my sister and her boyfriend (who had spent the night on our couch because he was at a youth conference here and didn't have a place to stay) and started to get the girls ready to go out. We looked out the window and saw a little boy, who we had found earlier in the week, lost, wandering down the street. I went out to see what was happening and speak to the woman who had him. She was calling the police. We brought the boy to her house and waited for the police to arrive, all the while watching his house to see if his mother came out looking for him. An hour later, no one had come looking for him, there had been some miscommunication at the police station and they hadn't sent out an officer and we were all cold and the boy had peed through his diaper and was soaked. We called the police again and told them we were going to take the boy back to my house so I could change him, he could play with Isla and I could put Hannah down for a nap.
We came home, I changed the boy and set him and Isla up with some toys and fed Hannah, put her down for a nap and the police arrived. I gave them my statement of what had happened and they asked if I could keep the boy for a while as they looked for the mother. I said yes, and they left. By this time Matt was home and laughing at me for taking in strays.
Child protective services came by and went looking for the mother as well. the boy had a set of car keys with him and the police were able to match the keys with a vehicle parked on the street. They ran the plates of that vehicle and found the name of the owner. They ran her name and it matched the description I gave of the mother who had come for the boy earlier in the week. It was after noon by the time the boy was returned to his home by child protective services.
By this time, it was too late to go to the farmers market. we had lunch and put Isla down for a nap so we could go out to a food truck festival we had been planning to go to. Isla decided not to nap very well and was very grumpy and difficult. After some gentle and not so gentle parenting, we were ready to go to the festival for supper. By the time we got there, most of the trucks were out of food, the vendors we had gone to see were packed up and gone and we were hungry. So we got some mini doughnuts and decided to go to a poutine place we really like for supper...only to arrive and find out they were closed. so we decided on pizza...only to arrive and find out there was an hour wait. So we ordered east indian food and went home. My mom arrived just as we were having supper and was staying the night.
After a late supper, we were about to put Isla to be when Matt's sister arrived from out of town to pick up something with her 7 kids. We invited them in and had a nice, noisy visit. By the time they left, it was after 9 and Isla was exhausted, as were we.
Sunday morning went fairly smoothly, rushing out the door to church as normal. Church was a good sermon and a good time for Isla with her friends. We decided to have a picnic in the park with my mom before going home, which was very nice but made isla have a very late nap. She didn't nap well, so we didn't get a chance to rest either. By the time we all fell into bed last night, we felt as if nothing had been accomplished all weekend and we had zero energy to do anything.
Through it all though, we tried to keep reminding ourselves that God gave us our house and we want to use it for His glory. Having people able to use our house as a refuge, as a place to rest, as a place for a cup of coffee and a visit, that is what we want. We had a quiet weekend, just the four of us planned and while there were moments when I resented that wasn't happening, we felt blessed that God was using us and shaping us. He was taking away our selfishness and teaching us. My heart hurts for the little boy we found but is grateful that God put us in his life and we were able to keep him safe. I was frustrated with my two year old when she wouldn't nap and was having temper tantrums over ridiculous things, but I am grateful that she teaches me to be a (hopefully) better parent and shows me how God loves his children when we stray.
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