It's Worth It

Jasmine and I were supposed to be in the lobby between 6:30-6:45 to pick up our tickets. The highway was shut down so I had to take all these side roads to get there. Stop light. Stop light. Slow driver. Stop light. Testing my patience. Test. Test. Red light. When we finally got on the highway, out loud I said “Okay God just get us to the game in one piece.” Jasmine laughed and said that reminded her of a guy saying a quick prayer before his test that morning. She thought my prayer was silly. I explained to her that prayers don’t have to be long all the time. You can say something quick. God understands. We got off the highway, blinking lights. Water main break so the road is down to one lane. Stop light. It’s one thing after another. I look at the clock and it is now 6:43. I am trying my hardest to be patience. We pull into the parking lot and I say another prayer out loud, “Ok God. We are here safe. Just get us inside before the lady leaves with our tickets.” Again Jasmine laughs at me. I smile as we run into the stadium. We get there and can’t find the lady. I’m feeling very frantic but I don’t want to lose my cool. I walk up to the Will Call hoping they are there. I tell Jasmine that just in case they aren’t there I will buy us some tickets. As I’m waiting in line this older gentleman walks up to me and hands me two FREE TICKETS!!! Alleluia!!! I gladly accept the tickets and profusely thank him. Jasmine is cracking up because I’m so excited about the free tickets. I explain to her, “See God answered my prayers. I asked for the lady to be here with my tickets and instead He gave me free tickets!” Jasmine just gets a huge smile on her face.

We go to the concession stand and I’m just ecstatic. This cashier had to close her lane so this older couple got pushed to the end of the line. I let them go in front of me and the guy just kind of looked at me funny. He asked if I am being nice because it’s almost Christmas. I laughed back and told him I am always nice. We laughed together and Jasmine just listened to our adult banter. We finally get to the front of the line. I make small talk with the cashier as she gets our items and rings us up. When I walk away I turn to the lady and say, “Merry Christmas!” Jasmine gets her million dollar smile on her face. I say, “What?” And she simply says, “I’ve never realized how nice you are. You are so nice to people.” WOW! That made my day! All these years of being involved in Big Brother Big Sister came down to that one moment. That makes it all worth it. All night long Jasmine had a big smile on her face and was very talkative. She opened up to me a lot about her boy issues and what she wants to do with her future. When we got in the car I handed her Christmas gift. She asked if she could wait until Christmas to open it. OF COURSE! How many kids would say that? She is such an amazing kid. I’m so lucky to have her in my life. I pray that I can continue to be a good role model for her as she gets through these crazy years of high school. Boy I know they are tough!