The other day, our dear, sweet 3 year old daughter, who hardly ever puts up a fuss, threw an extraordinary temper tantrum when we told her "no" to her favorite restaurant, McDonald's.
Now, you can imagine that for a little girl who absolutely loves chicken nuggets and a surprise toy, this was like the world ending to her. We gently told her that Mommy and Daddy wanted to eat somewhere else this time, but to no avail. She sobbed relentlessly, and being hungry did not help matters. After some much-needed discipline she quieted down and things were soon back to normal. We were exhausted from the experience, but knew that this was one experience we would not soon forget (neither would she, I venture to say).
A few days later, I received a special blessing. Not only did it confirm to me (and my sweet husband) that the Lord was still definitely looking out for us, but it also reminded me of my own stubbornness to God Himself.
That blessing was to reunite with two little girls that we had lived next door to over a year ago. They came from a broken home, reared only by a single mother who didn't seem to be around much. And when she wasn't, they were either left home alone or under the care of a shady boyfriend. They would constantly want to stay at our house, just to hang out, or see what they could get into. They were clearly starving for attention and love. They clung to me in an embrace, and loved giggling with Stephen or playing with our daughter. Yes, sometimes, they got on our nerves, but soon - almost suddenly - they were gone. They had moved out of state. We missed them a lot, dreaming of somehow meeting them again one day, but what are the odds of that ever happening? We felt bad for not sharing the gospel, but now there was no way we could even try to find them. All we could do was pray for them whenever we thought of them.
Fast forward about 13 months. I was picking up G from Sunday School class. It would be our last at this particular church, before we moved five hours away. I recognized one of the girls among the children. The same sweet, toothless smile and bouncing hair pretties in her black hair. She remembered me right away, and we hugged. Throughout the services, she and her sister would see me and cling to me. I was still in such shock! But my heart was overflowing inside. I couldn't wait to tell Stephen.
In my own way, I had thrown a royal fit when I didn't get what I wanted. I cried and cried when we didn't make the move when initially planned. I wonder, how many times has God been so exhausted because of me?
Instead of moving at the end of August, we had to delay it (due to replacement issues for my husband's job) to the end of September. And then, when the time came, we had to delay it yet again to the end of October.
Why God? Why do You want us to be in 'limbo' all the time?? I groaned. I wanted to get this move over with, so we could get on with our lives.
As I saw the girls' smiling, cheerful faces - the same faces I thought I'd never see again - I cried within.
Then the reality dawned on me.
If we had moved at the original date, I would have missed out on this special meeting. I would have been happily setting up house in a totally new area, but I would have missed seeing M and N again! Even if it was for a very short time. And, this just happened to be about 5 days before we left.
God not only admonished me, but He gave me the sweetest blessing I could ever have asked for. Why is He so good to little ol' me?
