This Happened Today Amid Our Very Busy Day...

The week before Lisa's 50th Birthday Bash, I posted a favor request on my personal Facebook wall. Did anyone have a canopy we could borrow? It appeared that Mother Nature wasn't going to be fully cooperative that day. We didn't want to postpone or cancel the party. Canopies would be our saving grace.

Not only did our neighborhood family respond, but we had a few people close by who were willing to let us borrow their canopies. We were beyond grateful.

One of the people who lent us their canopy was Jane and her sweet hubs. Their jumbo canopy is the one we used to shield the front of our covered porch. We had moved the party to the front yard so that way, Jonny Debit, our entertainment for the evening, would stay dry just in case Mother Nature decided to unleash her fury.

Mother Nature spared us the day of Lisa's 50th Birthday Bash. She doled out 10 minutes of rain and that was it.

Over the following week, I made arrangements to return Jane's canopy. She mentioned several times that there was no rush. They hadn't used the canopy in over a year.

However, I wanted to return it and extend our gratitude with some freshly made baked goods.

Today was the day.

I got up early and baked homemade zucchini bread, banana bread, and banana muffins.

While I was doing that, Lisa broke apart my old desk and loaded it into our vehicle for a dump run. I packaged up the baked goods. Lisa would return the canopy after the dump run.

Well over an hour after Lisa left, she called. I could hear the excitement in her voice.

"I had such a great visit with Jane! She let me meet her horses and I fed them carrots. I was in their area. They weren't confined to their stalls. I had a lot of fun. We need to visit again so you can visit with the horses. Jane is really cool."

In the past, we've visited horse rescue places and people who have had horses. Not once have we been allowed in their area. We've only been allowed to interact when the horses were in their stalls.

I totally understand that.

If we had all of our kids outside in the fenced in backyard, we wouldn't let someone they didn't know to enter that area. That's their space.

When Lisa was welcomed to meet Jane's horses in their space, Lisa was overwhelmed with excitement.

The entire experience went way beyond that, though.

As quoted from my personal Facebook page...

"I don't care HOW old you are. How busy you are. How important you think you are. Put the phone down. Walk away from the TV. Open your eyes. Go outside. Be present. Show up. Stop making excuses. Lend a helping hand. Extend random acts of kindness. Because really great things happen when you do all of the above.

This happened today amid our very busy day. We are so grateful for the people in our lives who are busy but make time for us. To lend a helping hand. To welcome us."

We will visit again soon. And, I can't wait to experience the joy that Lisa did today.

(Photo courtesy of Jane G.)