It was Father’s day on Sweetie Pie’s tonight. Despite his attempt to get off work, Tim dragged himself into work complaining all the way. Once Robbie reminded him that she works Mother’s day, he didn’t have a leg to stand on. Following the prayer to get them started, the crew was already hard at work. In the midst of a busy day, Jenae reminded Tim that she needed some help with making the wedding plans. You could tell that she was bummed that he wasn’t excited. With a full house, Jazzmin was complaining about servers taking tables from him…potential tips. Tim tried to get through her, but it took Robbie giving her a reality check to get her back on the floor. Unfortunately, Jazzmin ended up walking out but eventually returned. Then she made a HUGE mistake. She informed Robbie that she was leaving 4 hours early from her shift. Promising it was the last time; Robbie told her that she knew it….because she was being let go. Later that day Lil’ Charles found out that his crush, Jazzmin, had been let go. He wasted no time. He met up Jazzmin and told her that he would work on getting her job back.

To top it off, when Tim came into work the next day he saw Pops come out the back door and headed to his car. Taking a tray of ribs out of the trunk of his car, he handed them off to a woman. After showing Robbie his receipt for the ribs, I thought the drama would end…but it didn’t! However he was caught in a lie. He had told Robbie that the food never entered the building, but he actually pulled them in to marinade them. She didn’t fire him, but she was livid! She cooled off eventually and gave him a second chance.

Soon Tim and Jenae were off to a doctor’s appointment. What began with bickering over Tim meeting her after work to make wedding plans soon turned in a much heavier conversation. Before it got crazy, Tim got a chance to feel the baby’s head and hear its heartbeat. With her blood pressure a little high, her doctor decided to run some blood tests, do an ultrasound, monitor the baby and place her on bed rest. Suddenly in tears, both Jenae and Tim began to worry. Unable to control it, Tim did his best to reassure his fiancée.

In the meantime, Robbie was getting tough on the employees. Clean! Get moving! Barking orders to everyone trying to keep it all moving, it was clear that she was missing Tim. Finally she received a call from Tim telling her what was going on. With a good ultrasound, they were feeling hopeful. Yet, the blood flood to the placenta wasn’t good. With a medical team on her side the doctors, she was now going to have to stay at the hospital. It was possible that they may have to take the baby….3 months early. The doctors were concerned about the baby trying to compensate for the blood flow issues and further tests reveal it was. Now with her parents and best friend by her side, Jenae and Tim listened carefully as the doctor prepared them for a scheduled emergency C-section. No idea if his son will be alright, Tim called his mom. Robbie reminded him to remain calm and did her best to get to the hospital quickly. She knew she needed to be strong for everyone…just like a mother. With a room full of love, everyone prayed as they got ready to head into surgery. Like most parents, Tim felt they weren’t ready. BUT that night his baby was born fully developed and doing well. Surrounded by family, TJ was born only 1.6 pounds.

Life is like that. When you least expect it, something happens that makes you stop everything and all turn to face the crisis. Bickering over wedding plans, cooking ribs in the kitchen or wanting a day off…none of that really matters. I only hate that it takes reminders like TJ to refresh our memories.

In my home we openly comment that if we argue about petty stuff, God will help to wake us up and pull us back together. It has happened more often than I want to admit. Yet each time we remind ourselves and try to reboot our priorities. It can be hard. The important thing is to remember what really is important and let the other stuff go. Life is too precious to waste a moment. Welcome to the world, TJ!