Thankful Thursday

My post from yesterday could easily have been today's Thankful Thursday post.  As I was writing it, I considered saving it for today, but I decided that I wanted to write while the events were still fresh in my mind and publish it that same day.

But there were some details about my misadventure at Chick-fil-A that I didn't include in that post.  So as Paul Harvey would say, here's "the rest of the story." 

A cold, gray, blustery day in February is definitely not a good time to be without a coat.  Had the accident  happened the week before, I probably wouldn't have even been wearing my winter coat, since we had experienced a few blissful days of unseasonal warmth.  But timing is everything and the Diet Coke mishap occurred on a breezy day when the temperature was barely in the mid twenties.  : /

To compound the problem, I have just one winter coat.  My only coat was unwearable and I didn't have another one to use in its place.

As luck would have it, the dry cleaner I use is very close to Chick-fil-A.  I hoped that if I dropped my coat off right away, they would be able to have it ready for me late the next day.  Thankfully the woman at the cleaner assured me that my coat would be waiting for me any time after 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.  Yay!

Now if I could just stay in my semi-warm house until I could convince my husband to drive to the dry cleaners, everything would be great.

Except that it was Wednesday . . . Bible study night.  I couldn't justify missing Bible study because I didn't have a winter coat, could I?  The rooms where we have large group teaching and small group time are freezing year-round -- most of the time I never even take my coat off and sometimes I wear my gloves too.  I was going to be really cold.

And then I thought of another complication.  I was supposed to go downtown with my husband the next day.  There was no way I could walk around Chicago with only a zip-up hoodie for a coat -- I would freeze!

I was beginning to feel overwhelmed, when all of a sudden, a thought came into my mind -- "call Diane and ask her if you can borrow a coat."

Diane and I have been friends for more than twenty years.  We've watched our children grow up and marry; we've supported one another during illness and loss; we've studied the Bible and taken ministry training together; and buoyed by pots of coffee and creme brulee, we've laughed and cried through every season of life.  As an added bonus, we're basically the same size!  If Diane was willing to loan me a coat, it would fit.  : ) 

I called her and poured out my tale of woe.  When I asked if I could borrow a coat for a day or two, her answer was immediate and exactly what I knew she would say -- of course I could borrow a coat from her.  She had two that she thought would be the right size and I was welcome to whichever one I wanted.

What a generous friend!  We decided that I would stop by on my way home from Bible study and check out her coat closet.

So today when I was out and about in the city, not only was I warm and stylish in Diane's plum-colored coat, I was also filled with thankfulness for my dear friend's willingness to meet my need.           

Thank you Diane for being such a kind and loving friend!