Losing. And Winning.

I went to bed crushed. Broken hearted.

Feeling cheated.

After all the tweets, the Facebook posts, the blog posts, I was watching the Hero Mom contest like a hawk. I knew the end time. I watched as we started out down 11 votes for that coveted fifth place spot. I saw the votes roaring up, and we grabbed it, leading by as many as 23 votes.

Then, in the last couple of hours, that sixth place person started sneaking back up.

And up.

And up.

With half an hour left until the 11:59 pm Central time deadline, we were down 2 votes. I went to resend the link and realized the page was… different.

Locked.

It was over. It wasn’t supposed to be, but the top five spots were locked in, and we missed it by two votes.

My Hero Mom wasn’t going to get a $100 gift card. She wasn’t going to be in the running for the $2,500.

Sixth place. By two votes.

I was sad, and truth told, I was angry. Angry that we didn’t get that last half hour. I felt cheated. I felt my Hero Mom had been cheated.

This morning was a little better. I was still sad, disappointed. Hurt. I tweeted with several people, Facebooked with others. I shared what happened, was comforted and supported.

My Hero Mom posted these words:

Honey, it's ok :) your friendship and care is worth more than money to me! ♥ I'm sure the money will come through for us, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, after all :)

People? At that very moment, as those words were being written, God was providing.

I was contacted. The money for Colette’s trip?

Covered.

In full.

I’ve cried an awful lot this morning. I’ll probably have a sinus infection, because I am the world’s snottiest crier, but the happy tears? I can shed them over and over again.

For all of  you who voted, shared, tweeted, facebooked, and generally tolerated my internet harassment, thank you.

And for YOU?

There are not thanks enough.