We flew to California for one day passes to Disneyland. We had to. We were on a mission to get my special girl Shelby to see a life-sized Clarabelle Cow. At lease that’s what we thought we were doing.
To back up, our 18 year old daughter has the mental and emotional intelligence of a toddler. And my first born baby is obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Some of you got to outgrow that phase with your children. We probably never will. It can be annoying at times, but it brings her so much joy that I can’t help but enjoy it too. Because Shelby struggles to communicate, I might never have known that Clarabelle, a minor character in the show, was her favorite. But we got her a Mickey Mouse book, and she kept it turned to a picture of the singing cow all the time. She was only ever interested in looking at that page and talking about her. Once we found a Clarabelle stuffed animal on ebay (for entirely too much money) and presented it to Shelby, we knew FOR SURE that the cow is her favorite.
Stuffed Clarabelle is now Shelby’s almost constant companion. That 15 inch toy only leaves her hand under duress. Bath time, meal time, school and therapy. When our daughter went away to summer camp for a week with the Epilepsy Foundation of Texas, we told her counselors that they would have to pry Clarabelle out of Shelby’s unwilling hands for activities and that Shelby would tell them she was sad. We assured them this was necessary and that Shelby would rebound quickly when her beloved was out of sight. Those tender-hearted counselors must not have been able to deal with anyone being sad at summer camp. Every picture of Shelby they posted on social media that week included her doll. Clarabelle went to the mess hall, rode horses, kayaked, did arts and crafts and swam in the pool. She was a sad and tired mess after 6 days. And Shelby was exhausted too. The love of the cow runs deep.
When we got to Disneyland the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend (they set an attendance record – wouldn’t recommend going then), we trucked it to the guest services desk post haste to find out when and where Clarabelle would be appearing. The answer stunk. She would not be present in the park that day. Now we knew when we started planning this trip that there were no Clarabelle guarantees, but I confess that I bummed hard. For the love, we made a cross country trip. *Sigh* Anyway, our next hope was Clarabelle’s Creamery – a popular ice cream parlor. We imagined her image adorning the walls and memorabilia for sale in the gift shop. No such luck. There was not a picture of Shelby’s best friend, or any other cow in the whole place much less a t-shirt or keychain for sale. All of this prompted my husband to caption his social media photos with
With all of our musical cow dreams dashed to bits, we got about the rest of our day enjoying the park. And did Shelby enjoy the park! We discovered that our meek and gentle girl LOVES the speed, thrills and potential spills of roller coasters! She rode rails that would make this mama mess her britches and whooped and hollered the entire time. Smiles and giggles ALL DAY LONG. Turns out that Chuck and I were the only ones disappointed. Shelby had no expectation of seeing a bigger than life Clarabelle. Her mind can’t even fathom the possibility. She was as happy as I’ve ever seen her just hanging out with her people, and making some death defying turns – at least that’s how it appeared to this scaredy chicken.
In retrospect, I think the coaster-love was God’s sweet little surprise for us. We made plans for what we thought would delight Shelby, but God knew what would do the trick. In a silly and whimsical way, Space Mountain illustrates Proverbs 19:21. “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” We most often use this verse to remind us that God knows what’s best for us, which is absolutely true. But I think it also points to our God’s propensity to surprise us. He loves us so much that He delights in our delight. As much as the sound of Shelby’s laughter brings me joy, my love for her is dwarfed by our Heavenly Father’s pleasure in us.
“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.” Isaiah 30:18
Lauren, I love how you brought this all back to God’s tender and perfect love for us. So often I think what I know what I need but clearly have no clue. Your sweet Shelby was in her glee and so was God that day.
Blessings to you and yours in 2019!
Thank you, Marva. I enjoyed recounting how God was so sweet to us.
So glad to read that your trip to Disneyland had a happy ending! Our plans and God’s do not always match up, but as the great philosopher Mick Jagger once sang “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes, you get what you need!”
Excellent point by Mr Jaggar! Thanks for reading, Laurie.
What a beautiful time & message Lauren…thank you for sharing it with us 😀
Blessings,
Jennifer
Blessings to you, Jennifer.
Lauren, thanks for sharing your beautiful message of God’s love for us and our love for our children. Sweet, sweet story.💕🙏
Thank you, Nancy.
I love this. We think we know what we want from God, but He likes to give us more than we could ask or think!
Good way to put it Elizabeth!
I’m glad you all had a wonderful time even though you didn’t get to see Clarabelle. She’s not a main character but still if she has a shop named after her she should have some kind of likeness inside. In a way it could be seen as a blessing that your daughter didn’t get to meet the “lifesize” version of her favorite character. Most children get freaked out by these encounters and she could get freaked out about it too. #Mixitup
Lauren, this story captures my heart on every level. Thank you for pouring yourself out for the love of your daughter.
Thank you, Michele.
Love God’s sweet surprises He orchestrates just for us and the timing is always such that we truly see them as goodness from Him.
I agree, Crystal!
I love your honesty and vulnerability here, Lauren. Sharing on Twitter. Blessings to you!
Thank you, Sarah. And thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing about your sweet girl. Your vulnerability is a blessing!
She is a blessing. Thanks so much, Julia.
A beautiful story – thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping on, Carol!
I absolutely LOVED this post. I have a 5 year old son who has Down syndrome, and I would do anything for him. I could totally see my husband and I – or his 4 siblings – doing something like this for him down the road!
Yep. We mamas will do anything for our kids. And they are so worth it! Blessings to you and yours, Stefanie. Thank you for reading.
Sometimes it’s what we least expect that they enjoy the most in spite of all our well-laid plans. Visiting from #TellHisStory today.
Yes!
Thank you so much for sharing this poignant, warm-hearted, feel good post!! Your daughter is just beautiful!
Blessings,
Thank you, Karen. She is something else.
Oh Lauren, I can only image the disappointment when you planned the perfect day and surprise for your beautiful daughter and flew all the way there – at the expense to bless her. It is so like God to bring beauty and joy from disappointment. What a beautiful ending to a beautiful gift for your daughter and from God to you! I love how this story ended. <3 Thanks for linking up with me at #TuneInThursday
Thank you for reading Debbie!
Beautifully written, and a wonderful message. “The love of the cow runs deep”–perfectly said!
And I loved learning about your love for one another and the Lord. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thank you, Amanda.