Dear God

I woke up this morning at the sight of my two sweet boys sleeping beside me. {Coop snuck into our bed sometime between 5-6 this morning--sneaky lil thing} I watched them sleep and whispered "Thank you God for my family."

I dozed back off until 9am. On a Monday. While most weeks Monday mornings bring about fist fights with my alarm clock and groggy sleepy eyes stumbling around the bathroom, not this week.

You see, today was different. We had to be in Clayton County at the Superior Court by 1:30pm for the dreaded trial.

So instead of putting on my favorite scrubs, I put on a dress, some festive wedges, and my Coopie necklace {for good measure}. Chris put on his best suit. We looked like we were ready for hot date night. But alas, we had bigger fish to fry.

Cooper put on his best onesie and a fresh diaper and we were out the door.

I chanted "Dear God, please be with us, please be with us".

After dropping Cooper off at Lori's for the day, we blazed a trail back down to Clayton County. We stopped at Chickfila on the way {of course} and I prayed "Please have crushed ice, please have crushed ice".

As we passed the "Now entering Clayton County sign" I threw up in my mouth a little at the thought of that cold morning back in December. {Just being honest folks}.

We parked the car, made it through security, and waited outside the judge's chamber for 45 minutes. I held Chris' hand and pleaded "Dear God, please shower Chris with your mercy".

A young scraggly dude sat beside us holding his court order. Being the Nancy Drew I am, I snuck a peek at his charge. Robbery. I squeaked out the prayer "Be near, oh God, be near".

Scraggly dude got nervous and went for a stroll and another young man, wearing a purple hyper-color shirt sat down beside me. I prayed "Dear God, please help me resist the urge to blow on this man's shoulder just to see his shirt change colors".

We waited and waited for Mr. Glock to show up to escort us into the courtroom. We shuffled and waited and paced and waited. No Mr. Glock. 1:30 came and we were ushered into the courtroom with the other guys being tried for various felonies. Theft by taking. Possession of Marijuana. Hit and run. Robbery. I looked around the room and prayed "This which you do for the least of them, you do for me".

Chris was 3rd on the docket. Still no Mr. Glock. The judge called his name and he nervously reassured her {yes, her} that he would be there any minute. And 30 minutes later, he was there. I shouted "Thank you JESUS!"

The short version {because we all know how very LONG WINDED I tend to be}: the judge, the DA, and Mr. Glock began negotiating at the front of the courtroom. Chris and I sat on the pew awaiting the verdict. The first news came: the charge was being reduced to a misdemeanor. PRAISES!

Mr. Glock was not happy with this. We can do better, he said. More negotiating, shaking and nodding heads, sweaty palms, whispering prayers. They wrapped things up and Mr. Glock came over to us. He greeted us with a blunt "How much money do you have?" I reported that I had a Macy's charge card, a gift certificate to Chili's, and approximately $3. 21 cents worth of change in the cupholder of my car. Chris reported our current savings. {So serious, gesh}.

The judge and DA had agreed to send Chris' case into diversion. We were to pay the court $300 dollars {yep, $300, not $3,000...or $30,000 as we had imagined} and the ENTIRE charge will be dropped. No sentence. No probation. No outrageous fines. No shackles. No fear.

I was instructed to go and obtain a money order for the amount stated and Chris was taken off to complete paperwork. I drove in circles looking for a Bank of America and wondered if people in Clayton County even use banking institutions. My darling brother hooked me up with directions (love you bro) to the nearest BOA. As I ran up the stairs to the teller, I noticed an enormous sign on the door reading "Remove sunglasses and hoods before entering the bank". I prayed "Dear God, please do not let me get mugged, please do not let me get mugged".

I got the dough, sped back to the courthouse and met back up with Chris. We sat in the DA's office in absolute awe of God's mercy and grace. We have pretty much been speechless ever since.

It's late and I am watching my two sweet boys sleep. And you better believe, I am whispering "Thank you God, thank you God".