It's 2:30 am and Miranda was due home an hour and a half ago. She has become good friends with a guy who is 3 years older than she. When he asked her to go to a big fair to see a group they both like a lot, we said yes, but Mike and I told her we would go on our own and just "be" there. See, we aren't fans of sending our children out to test the waters in their own one on one "spaces". It turned out that night both our boys' teams scheduled ball games. Mike misses a lot of them on the road, so after he'd sent Miranda a thorough and sincere message, we let her go alone, but not before he told him to "bring his baby home safe".
It's 2:52 and she's here. They had such a good time at the fair that he asked her to go to another concert tonight. For the life of me why we felt okay to let her go just because there would be several of them, I don't know. Since Mike is in Maine, it was up to me to have the talk with him about drinking and purity accountability. Soon after I began, he took off his sunglasses to look me eye to eye, which I considered a high form of respect. As they were leaving, he said they were meeting up with someone with a bigger vehicle. An alarm should have gone off, but I was helping McKala find something that was lost before she headed off to camp with Megan (who'd just arrived from Georgia AND with a tremendous "mess" her German Shepherd mix had made when he'd became frantic earlier).
She just kissed me and went to bed. She called and said the woman who was driving had disappeared as soon as they got there and would not admit how much alcohol she'd had. When they confronted ...she sped off, leaving them in downtown Charlotte (1 1/2 hours from here). As I was getting all this information from Miranda, one of the guys got in touch with his aunt who was leaving to get them, but from more than an hour away. I should've just left and gone for them myself and that's what Mike is going to say when he reads this. I'd busied myself tonight exchanging seasons in Macklynn's closet and drawers. When I finally sat down, thoughts began to course through my mind of them "alone" together in a parking lot and being prime candidates for predators. I did the concert scene in Atlanta, so that's my perspective. Apparently, this is a nicer area.
She probably went to sleep with a smile on her face. So, there she was, 50 degrees outside, while McKala and Megan are at one of the best camps anywhere all snug in their Cabela's sleeping bags. As I looked over at Madalynn asleep on the couch beside me and Macklynn asleep on the loveseat, I suddenly felt a huge pang of guilt. I know she's almost grown, but she still depends on our protection and I flat out dropped the ball. Turns out the conversation in the cold of the parking lot and under brotherlike protection, she had a better time than at the concert - like some sort of adventure, I suppose. It wasn't for lack of my prayers of hedge around them.
I hope her dreams are sweet right now. When I got the call that they were on their way, my wall was taken with flood waters. It wasn't that I didn't believe that God would handle this. It was just that I was so utterly thankful. I have an iron stomach and am almost never nauseous (as shown by the thickness of my physique ;), but I really thought I would vomit. When they finally got here, she was laughing and trying to get out quickly. He was thinking of "getting out of dodge". First I asked him if he'd met my Pitbull who was trying to make her way in while Miranda was getting out. In all seriousness though, I told him I didn't care what time it was. He did what I asked him to do. Their plans had fallen apart but the most important one stayed in tact. How could I be mad? He got her here undamaged and I thanked him for it.
4:05 and it's time for me to sleep. I'm still wondering what all I'll learn from tonight, but I'm having a hard time getting past the idea of stomping the driver's rearend for selfishly indulging and belligerently refusing to allow another driver, then leaving our not even 17 (until next week) year old in the city on a cold night. I'm certain the young woman needs prayer ...so y'all do that for her ...just in case I ever come face to face with her and beat her senseless ...not really, but it sure sounds good right now.
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