Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: THANKFUL (11/14/19)
-
TITLE: An Unexpected Journey | Previous Challenge Entry
By Janet Richey
11/21/19 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
Reaching for the covers that weren’t there, he shot up “What? I didn’t hear you!”, my twelve year old said in his sleepy-annoyed voice.
It’s amazing how quickly you can pull yourself together when coffee and doughnuts are on the line. With warp-like speed we gathered the necessities, kissed Dad good-bye, pushed ourselves past our overweight chocolate Labrador who always seemed to be in the way, and packed ourselves into our faithful Explorer. Awkwardly, I grabbed the boy’s hand and offered a heart-felt prayer for safety, growth, laughter, and consistent cell phone coverage. The two of us would cover roughly 400 miles of mostly country roads, alone, with our aging SUV. An exhilarating tension and anticipation filled the space between us.
Pennsylvania Route 15 North ran parallel to the Mighty Susquehanna River so closely you could almost reach out and touch it from the passenger window. We excitedly talked about what we would experience at the state park that claimed to be “the darkest spot this side of the Mississippi”. As he confidently shared what he already knew about the starry skies and the questions he had for the astronomy teacher, my mind wandered to the bumpy roads leading up to this moment.
In December of 2006, I was, apparently, of advanced maternal age. We weren’t planning on having any more kids, and yet the blood test didn’t lie. I scanned the family room where we took the call, took note of every object that could severely injure a clumsy toddler, and cried.
“Well, I guess it’s God’s will,”my steady husband said.
A startling revelation from a man who rarely spoke of spiritual things.
We all walked in a fog of disbelief. Expectations would have to be adjusted. Our girls, who were seven and nine years old at the time, would have to share a room. They would have to wait for the puppy we promised them. They would get a baby brother instead.
But things shifted four months into the pregnancy. I rushed myself to the emergency room where they told me, void of all empathy, that I was probably going to lose the baby. I bawled continuously, through the phone call to my husband, and all the way up to the ultrasound room. Between sobs, as the lady technician glided the probe across my belly, I confessed my sins of not accepting this pregnancy with more joy. I was a horrible Christian! I questioned God’s will! “Shh….” she softly interrupted. With a smile, she pressed a button, and the sound of a heartbeat filled the room. With her free hand, this angel of mercy grabbed mine and proclaimed just above a whisper, “That’s the sound of a healthy baby. God has a plan for this kid”.
Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”.
While my son’s chatter continued as I maneuvered the two-lane roads through the Pennsylvania Wilds that day, I was never more thankful that God took our two-point-three-children-white-picket-fence-dream, and shaped it into something complicated, challenging and far more exciting than we could have ever imagined. Our son brought an all-boy, back roads kind of dynamic to a family that thought it was done growing. Meanwhile, God said “Not a chance!”
It’s difficult to adjust and accept when you’re heading West, and God says “East!” While there is obvious beauty on both North American coasts, God knows us better than we know ourselves. Rest comes when we fully submit to His will. And as I sit here at an east coast coffee shop window, watching the sun rise, I know that I will go home, and probably have an argument with my strong willed child. Still, there is a balance that I could have never designed on my own. His ways are not my ways.
That is everything to be thankful for.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
