And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. – Rom. 8:28

There they go!

A Present Background!

My daughter and her husband are on a cruise celebrating their 10th year anniversary and my husband and I have the privilege to travel to their home so that we could take care of their 3 children, (8 yr. old girl, 7 yr old boy, 3 year old girl).  I use the word privilege deliberately because to my husband and I anytime God makes it possible for us to spend time with our grandchildren we consider that a profound privilege.  

A Little Past Background!

Years ago, when I struggled with God in releasing my children to Him, my mind was bombarded with a fearsome fiery dart.  “If you release your children to God, He might call them to live far, far away from you!”  At the time I couldn’t bear that thought.  Yet, deep within my soul, I knew it was something I had to do.  I couldn’t run from it and I couldn’t hide from it.  I couldn’t live in denial and ignoring this calling from God, would in no way dismiss my obligation to obey God. 

So, by the grace of God, (and I mean ONLY by the grace of God) I lifted my children up to Him with a trembling heart and promised that I would teach my children to obey and serve God–being comforted by the thought that:

The safest place on earth, is in the center of God’s will.

I did ask God for a favor, however.  I asked Him that if His plans for any of my children involved planting their lives in a place far away from me, that God would make it possible for me to travel to where ever they were to spend time with them.   I didn’t demand this or make this conditional.  For I confessed to God that I would do this hard thing, no matter what!  But I would be more than grateful if I could live in the hope that He would make this possible.  And as you might expect, that is exactly what God has done.

My daughter lives  in Florida, so the fact that God provided us the means to purchase airline tickets to go and be with them is just proof positive that He continues to be tender to my request of all those years ago.  God is indeed faithful.

Now, back to the present!

My husband drove our daughter & son-in-law to the port about an hour’s drive from their house to board their cruise ship and in getting there, our daughter discovered she did not have her driver’s license.  (Panic time!)  Which obviously meant that with no picture id she would not be allowed to board the ship!

I got a phone call from them asking me to check the printer to see if her license was still there.  Sure enough, there it was, along with two insurance cards.  There was nothing to do but to contact my husband and tell him he would have to turn right around and go back to where he had been.  Ugh!  (Problem was, he wasn’t answering his phone so the temptation to freak out was intensifying.)  But everyone held on to their trust that God would work this out and resisted the fiery darts that were attempting to undermine our trust.

Finally, my husband answered his phone and it was decided that when he got back to the house, the kids and I  (along with the 3 important cards) would jump in the car with him and we would all return to the port-of-call so we could hand over the forgotten cards.

So how did this all work out for the good?

We had talked about the children being able to see their parents off at the ship, but decided that wasn’t practical. (Not enough room in the car)  Yet, because of the present dilemma, the kids were able to see the cruise ship their parents would be on (note the picture above).  

Another tidbit of interest is that had not my daughter and son-in-law left as early as they did, we wouldn’t have been able to get the driver’s license to them in time and the trip would have been spoiled.

As I prayed with my grandchildren that night, I thanked God for the opportunity we all had to witness how God took something that was not so good and turn it into good for all.  (Just like He said in Romans 8:28)

Isn’t it awesome to be a Christian!