The Best Part of My Week

At my office at Cedarville, we each have individual phone numbers. We don't publish these because we don't want to get called by students or other people in the middle of our sessions. My boss, John, does allow us to give these to family members; the phones have caller ID, so seeing that a family member is calling our direct line can serve as a signal to take the call. We also have a main phone number that our secretary, Helen, answers. Since we haves phones that have multiple line-capacities, we can answer each other's extensions if need be by pressing the button for that line and picking up the phone. This all matters, I promise.

Today around 2:00, my office phone rang. I was next door chatting with Laura when it started to ring. As I mentioned above, not just anyone has that number, so I immediately went to answer it. The caller ID showed that it was my mom calling. That was unexpected - she has never called my work number since I've been at this job. I answered, heart beating, and she sounded surprised to hear me. I asked what was wrong, and she was stumbling over her words, trying to figure out why I answered. My grandmother has been a bit reclusive lately (even from church, which is not typical for her), so I thought maybe something was wrong. As it turns out, my mom said she was trying to leave me a voicemail to let me know she hoped I was having a good day. My mom does this a lot, through voicemail or text message or email. We talked for a minute and said goodbye. 

About 45 minutes later, the main line for our office rang. Helen was talking to someone, so I hit the button for that line and answered. 

I heard a very familiar voice say, "Hi! Is this Helen?" 

I could tell it was my mom, so I said, "... Nooooo, this is Jenny." 

"Jen???"

"Uhhh, yeah Mom ....?"

(Laughter on her part.) "I am just messing up all over the place today!"

"Why'd you call back?"

"I was trying to leave you a message." 

"Oh, okay."

We chatted about my day. She asked if I had more clients today, and I told her that a few hadn't shown up and one had cancelled. I had a student coming in from the class I teach 15 minutes later, so I told her about that. She laughed again and said she would stop calling. I told her she could call right back if she really wanted to leave a message and I wouldn't answer. She just laughed and said no, and we said goodbye again.

After my appointment with my student, I wrote my progress notes, read something online that a friend had sent me, and started preparing for tomorrow's clients. Specifically, I have a client who has obsessive-compulsive disorder, and I wanted to brush up on that disorder. We just got our copies of Christian Counseling Today a couple of weeks ago, which is published by the American Association of Christian Counselors. This edition's focus was anxiety disorders, which was suited to the research I was doing. Around 4:30 I sat back, literally rocked back in my desk chair, put my feet up on my desk, and started reading the article on OCD. About 10 minutes later, I heard someone walking down the hallway to my office. I looked up.

IT WAS MY MOM!!!

FOLLOWED BY MY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those that don't know, my dad doesn't travel far from home very often. He generally stays within a 30 mile radius of home. He's not much of a shopper; he enjoys the comforts of home and being on the farm. I was stunned! Mom said she wished she would have had her camera phone out to take a picture of my face. I didn't even know what to say! Apparently Mom doesn't have school tomorrow (school inservice day from parent-teacher conferences), and my dad doesn't work either. So they drove allllllllllllll the way from home to have dinner with me and go back home tonight! Can you believe it? 

The blessing was made even better when all my coworkers got to meet my dad. I honestly never thought that would happen! My coworkers were gracious, and they complimented me; Helen told my parents I'm a "breath of fresh air," and John told them that they love me, that they appreciate me, that my satisfaction ratings from the students I see are very high, and (the best part) that that's a real testament to them as parents. I love that he affirmed my mom and dad, not because I'm so terrific, but just because I think I am very, VERY blessed to have parents who love us unconditionally, stayed married for 38 years (a saddening rarity today), never fought in front of us, provided for us even when they had to sacrifice, encouraged us to go to college, who insisted upon church attendance, and supported me when I moved farther away from home than I ever had, knowing they would see me much, much less often. 

So, yeah! They followed me home, we ordered pizza, and they left about an hour later. Oliver, by the way, was happy to see them, too! They are still on the road at this point, with about 90 minutes left to go. I am so happy they made such a long trip - 5 hours in the car - just to have dinner with me. Thanks, Mom and Dad! That was, by far, THE BEST PART OF MY WEEK!