Saturday, December 1, 2007

B-b-b-b-baby, It's C-c-c-c-cold Outside!

As I type this I'm listening to ice from the heavens angrily pelting my window. It's as if the snow was in too big of a hurry to drift softly, silently to the earth, but impatiently scrunched itself up into little balls of icy mischief and threw temper tantrums from the clouds, who are floating by, shrugging their shoulders at the path of winter they've left behind.

I think winter is here. I'm praying we won't be iced out of church tomorrow.

And I have this feeling that Michigan is going to be one snowy tundra this season. We're due for a hard winter.

Lily and I did a little bit of Christmas shopping today and found the big boys' presents. I won't spoil the surprise, but snow will sure come in handy!

I have a very interesting job ahead of me tomorrow. A lawyer friend contacted me, and he is working on an ugly, brutal divorce case. The dad has been issued a restraining order from his soon-to-be ex-wife and his two young sons. However, he has been granted a supervised visitation tomorrow. He's somewhat of a flight risk, which is one of the reasons it must be supervised, in addition to having made some threats. Also, he hasn't seen his boys for 5 months. So, the person who was supposed to be supervising the visit is no longer able to...and my lawyer friend asked me if I would be able to do it! I've never done anything like this before, but I said, Sure. The whole situation is totally heartbreaking, and I know this dad is going to hate me, just because of my role. But it's my job to keep them on the premisis (What do I do if he grabs his kids and tries to run?) and to make sure the visit is safe (especially emotionally) for the kids. (No talking bad about the mom, etc.) He's coming here to the church, and as far as I know, I'll be by myself. Seems kind of weird, doesn't it?

Rob will be just across the yard at the house, so I won't be totally alone.

I'm so thankful for my husband and my family and that I'm not having to parent alone or worry about visits with the other parent, etc. God has been so gracious to us. I can't imagine what this family must be going through at this time.

Please pray for us! And for them.

2 comments:

jeny said...

Oh Jody, I cannot even imagine! You need to have him give you his keys when he gets there and have Rob keep them up at the house until he's ready to go. This sounds so serious and aweful. You know I WILL be praying for you, that God will give you safety and grace during this difficult assignment. I know that you are the best person for this job because there is nothing threatening about you . . .you exude Jesus and love and sincerity . . .I could go on and on. But please let me know how the day goes.
I'm picking my mom up at the train station tomorrow morning (she's been in Boston for a whole week!), then picking up Madie from preschool so I'll be in Mish most of the day.

p.s. I absolutely love your opening discription of Winter arriving. Can I borrow it sometime? (properly sited of course.)

love you!

jeny said...

So?! How did it turn out yesterday? I had you on my mind all day.