"When God Brings a Distant Child Back to Your Life!"



Last night I re-read my status from FB and. . . I am grateful. When I was searching for inspiration to share on FB, I had no idea it would connect with the blessings that I am shairng with you. But now I see it does and that makes me happy! Happy that God turns it around and shows me a blessing from the words I carefully seek to share with my FB friends! The status I speak of is this: Believe God IS working in your life. . . even when you don't feel it or see it! Sometimes it's one small step at a time, a gradual improvement, a gradual change. God's timetable is rarely the same as ours. Remember that God is never in a hurry, BUT He is always on time. Be patient . . . don't get discouraged! Remember how far you've come. . not just how far you have to go! You may not be where you wanna be, but neither are you where you used to be!! :)

Without going into a long drawn out and full detailed story. . . I will tell you that we have had a distant child in our family and God is bringing her back to us in HIS time! The distance has not been made up in miles, but rather in relationships with each of us. Somewhere . . . sometime. . . walls must have been placed. . . . barriers that none of us seemed to be able to penetrate. Love seemed to be no longer received or given, touch was prohibited and communication was very little when and if given. In fact this child chose to stop living in our home sometime during her high school years. It felt and appeared as if another family became her family as she chose to do everything with them. These times were HARD....they HURT.....I wanted desperately to reach out to my child, to hold her, hug her, love her and be the mother that I once had been to her. But just as it was hard. . . . I knew I had to do only what I could do. WAIT. Love her unconditionally. Pray. TRUST in a God that changes hearts, wills and desires. And be here for her . . . . always.

This child went away to college in another town. Upon leaving she packed all of her stuff all by herself and loaded it by herself. . . leaving by herself......for this was the way she wanted it. None of the normal stuff which would be taking your child to college, making sure she is settled in, tearful goodbyes, promises of phone calls every week.....just bye and she was - - gone. We did get a visit or two sometimes when she would come back to see friends and we would unexpectedly find out she was now in town. We even went there ourselves to visit a time or two and things would be civil, but never close.

At some point this child stopped attending college. We would later learn of it. She was fearful of our reactions to her news. God gave David and I both the love in our hearts to welcome her back home with open arms. . . that would be met with no hugs. I know that ALL things happen for a reason. For those who are God's, they happen for a GOOD reason. . . even when we don't see it, feel it, think it. . . He IS working -hence the FB status. For it has been during this time of her choosing to live, once again under the same roof, with the family that loves her, that God is working and we are seeing! I will share with you that it has NOT been a bump-less road. No, if anything, BIG bumps have been there. But, as I stop and observe through this time. . . .God is working His miracles of softening hearts. . . and it feels O-SO good!!!

There are more blessings of laughter and smiles to name one such miracle!! Laughter with sisters....laughter with brother.....laughter with Dad (Yeah, I know...everyone thinks DAD is funny), and laughter with Mom. Laughter and smiles with Mom is priceless, for I cannot even begin to describe to you what that means to this mother. There are no words to explain....even for a wordy person like me.

There is communication to name another miracle!! Times of enjoyed and wanted communication makes this Mom sit here and shake her head at the very awesomeness of it all! Communication with sisters, communication with brother, communication with Dad (although DAD is a limited communicator), and communication with Mom. You have to know that Mom and this child have had very limited communication, in years gone by, for it has had it's strain upon it making it very difficult. So when I say communication with MOM....I'm talking BIG "Thank ya Jesus!!" moments.

There are moments of this child telling me little things about myself through the years that I have forgotten about or thought nothing of. Little things such as how I do things, did things. This tells me she has watched me, thought about me, letting little things about her mother make a memory in her heart. And all this time I thought I was regarded as someone, in her mind, not to even give the time to think about. Maybe....just maybe....I have meant more to her than both she and I realized. :)

For the most part the responsibilty parts are falling into place as well. Details un-needed here.

Another miracle?? Yes!!
God has moved her to another job location allowing her to be OFF on Sundays!! She dropped out of going to any church whatsoever sometime ago. This concerned me greatly, but at the same time, I knew there was nothing I could do in and of myself. God knew. God would take care of it. Although she has not worked for some Sundays now and had her excuses, she told me this past one "I didn't know what time church started...and you didn't wake me up like you used to do." Thank ya Jesus! So even though she has not made the actual presence of attending church again, I believe it will happen....just as I believe that God is and will work in her heart to draw her closer to Him.

So as I reflect once again on my FB status, I see just how much we all fit in this. Believe God IS working in your life. . . even when you don't feel it or see it! Sometimes it's one small step at a time, a gradual improvement, a gradual change. God's timetable is rarely the same as ours. Remember that God is never in a hurry, BUT He is always on time. Be patient . . . don't get discouraged! Remember how far you've come. . not just how far you have to go! You may not be where you wanna be, but neither are you where you used to be!! :)  Although we haven't arrived yet and have yet farther to go.....and yes hugs are still "gross".....we know WHO holds us together and thank the Lord.....we aren't where we used to be!!!

"When God wants to make a mushroom, He does it overnight, but when He wants to make a giant oak tree, He takes a hundred years. Great souls are grown through struggles and storms and seasons of suffering. We can be patient through the process. Overtime, a slow, steady stream of water will erode the hardest rock and turn giant boulders into pebbles. And overtime, a little sprout can turn into a giant redwood tree towering 350 feet tall!"

Have HOPE my friend.....for God surely IS working.....even when we can't see it, feel it, or hear it. Wait on Him. :)