So, this is parents weekend at TC and most of the 2nd Platoon boys were blessed with visits. Blessed with family hugs, food not served on green trays, and excursions either to the beach in Panama City or the movie theatres/Adventureland/bowling alley pleasures of Dothan. That huge blessing of going “off campus.” There were ten boys in 2nd however that didn’t have visits. . After we cleared it with the guys in charge (and found out that there could be some subsidy from the boys’ accounts), we piled those ten boys into a Teen Challenge van and headed to Dothan for our own brand of fun and excitement (and food not on green trays!).
When our miniature golf plan got rained out we opted for a movie. We pulled up to the theatre with just minutes to spare for the matinee. While Gary parked, I got the 12 tickets. Surprisingly, the ticket girl (also the manager it turned out) offered us a dollar off each ticket. Sweet! But I couldn’t find my wallet so I sent one of the boys off to get Gary’s wallet and hurry back with it. But much to our dismay, he didn’t have his wallet either! (How two responsible adults could drive away with 10 boys in their care and neither one of them have their wallets is beyond me, but alas, it happened.) So there I was, standing at the movie theatre ticket window with 10 boys standing there expectantly and no way to pay for the tickets. The ticket girl (bless her heart) offered to send a bill to TC for the tickets so the boys wouldn’t be disappointed. I was like, you’ll bill me for these tickets? Really, you’ll send me a bill for these tickets? So she wrote up an invoice, had me sign it with my name and phone number, and in we went. Have you ever heard of that???? So we send the boys in to get seats (since the movie was about to start), and I wait for Gary who’s making a quick head stop (as they say in TC land). The manager comes up to me and asks if the boys can have a soda and pop corn. Umm, they can, but remember, I have no resources, I say. My treat she says. I really support what you’re doing there at Teen Challenge! Now popcorn and a soda might not seem like much to you, but to those 10 boys who already saw us get into the movies without any money, it was close to a miracle. If not a miracle, certainly an unexpected blessing. Oh, and the movie was pretty good too! Nim’s Island – go see it!
Now, we’re back in the van and as I look for the 10th time for my wallet (how could we have been so remiss), I find $80.00 tucked away in the bottom of my purse! Since the movie problem was already solved, we decided that instead of just heading back home we could afford dinner at CiCi’s – all you can eat pizza for $4.99. Sounds like a teenager’s dream, no? We had a nice leisurely dinner and then headed back to Bonifay. Before we left Dothan, though, Gary thought he’d show them where he had found a geo cache several weeks before. So we stopped a neighborhood playground – and finding the little hidden treasure became secondary to the PLAYGROUND!!!! Oh. My. Goodness. If we had known how much fun they would have at a playground, we could have skipped the movie all together!

Ah, but then we would have missed the extra blessing. How good God was to us this day!