So I just found a FB site for the Prattville area that is like Craig's list. It's like a virtual yard sale all the time. It's awesome. I wish I would have found it months ago. Anyway, I'm trying to get rid of some of the baby stuff we have before we move. I was posting pictures of a few items I was selling and saw people posting ISO. I thought that was a brand name at first. :) Apparently it stands for 'in search of' and just after one of my posts appeared on the page, there was a post that said, "Still ISO a swing set." Brad and I decided to sell our swing set even though we just got it because we are at a rental and it would probably break in the process of moving. That said, I just commented on her post and said, "I've got one I'm going to post tomorrow." She responded back right away so I sent her a picture of it and she said she wanted it. I could tell she was very excited. The plan was for her to pick it up the next night (Tuesday).
She came over on Tuesday, paid the $100 (we bought it for $300 and then Brad and his dad spent about 8 hrs building it all) which is a good deal. She had a friend come over with a truck and Brad helped disassemble the playset into 3 pieces. We got it into the mans truck and they left. It was really great talking with this woman who had her 1 yr daughter with her. They were both so sweet. Her daughter was loving playing on the swing set while we were waiting for her friend to come and help take it apart. She also mentioned how her daughter wasn't sleeping through the night and I told her about a great book that saved my life when Aiden was 9 months old. I went to the bedroom when she left and found the book I wanted on the bookshelf. I tried to run out to give it to her but they were already down the street. I was sad because I thought the book would really help her but assumed that God wanted me to meet up with at some other point before we left.
I got a FB message later that night. The playset never made it to her house. It fell off the truck mid-way to her house. My heart instantly broke when I read that. This single military mom just spent $100 for lumber parts. Brad and I instantly knew that we had to go to her place and try and help fix it. So here is my take on the situation: God broke the swingset. He let it fall off because He wanted to make sure we were able to visit again :)
We showed up today at 1:00pm to see what we could do. Brad was relieved that the 1x6 beam that held the swings and trapeze bar was still intact. We worked on it for 2.5 hrs and got it almost all put together!!!! The woman got a few pieces a lumber which Brad used for various parts of the playset. It was great to just chat with her and talk about kids and the problems that come along with them. She is such a sweet woman. Brad did a great job of re-using wood, making new holes, and reattaching parts. Overall, the Lord has created a soft spot in my heart for this woman. I can so relate to her and being a single mom (Brad was gone so much during the first 4 yrs) and then just the obstacles with kids (getting them to listen, sleeping through the night, eating, etc) and how to overcome them. We were even able to relate about my 'Prattville experience.'
There was one thing that we couldn't fix on the swing set so Brad is going to get the right-size bolt and we will go back and finish up the bench. It was such a blessing to be able to help this lovely woman and her little girl. We left and she was so grateful yet we were so happy too. It was a blessing to us that she was so grateful and excited. It was a great day. I was totally spent from being in the hot sun though so I picked up the boys and pretty much let them watch an hr of TV because I was too exhausted to do anything else.
God's timing is so .... amazing. I need to remember that.
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