Keeping an Ear Open

I love Sundays!

Mine began with worship--two choirs singing to the rafters-- continued with fellowship--great friends who follow us from the patio to the parking lot--and ended with kinship--time with the newly dubbed "core four" on a beach walk and talk time at the table.

Although we were bummed at having to send my niece, Kathryn off on her next chapter, the blessing of the day came as Allie shared her desires for the future with me. Ironically, (because we'd let her sleep in and skip church) her sentiments echoed the very sermon we'd heard and she'd missed.

Not only did I get to recap it for her but, I also got a reminder of how God speaks to us. To the authentic Christian, "coincidences" are more than what meets the eye. When I am listening for direction or praying for wisdom, the simple timing of a comment and a point in a sermon can indicate God's voice in answer to me.

I am being intentionally cryptic to keep Allie's confidence. But suffice it to say that when we listen with ears to hear, God speaks. Praise Him for that!

Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Mark 4:8-10

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:4-6

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:7-9

That Didn't Just Happen!

Last month, I gave a talk to the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group that meets at our church. Their theme for the year is "Adventures in Mothering." It immediately seemed destined that I say yes, since we had titled our adoption letter "Adventures with Andy and Jim" 15 years prior. Certainly, adventure is something we claimed to seek out. As it happens, it seeks us out too! The A-words seem to cling to me like dog hair on velour: autism, adoption, adventure, awkward. (Hoping Alzheimer's won't be next.)

I was given the topic, "Raising a Special Needs Child" and asked to liken it to a particular theme park ride. A roller coaster came instantly to mind. As God would have it, my talk to these young moms, centered as much on God's Timelessness and Providence as it did on autism.

Babbie Mason swooning Timeless, sums it up musically. Scroll down here if you want to hear a clip of her great song and voice. For 99 cents, it could be the best deal on Amazon.

Coincidences aren't really chance at all. Rather, they are signposts of God at work "orchestrating a holy-set up to speak to us" as Beth Moore says. He sustains and guides human destiny because He loves us (and because He can). Any and every circumstance--infertility, adoption, autism, illness--works together for good, across the barriers of time to accomplish His purposes.

I reflected on the verses that had guided me through infertility, then took on new meaning in hindsight. Verses like John 9:1-3 which I first interpreted as, "Why am I infertile?"...and then again later, "why does Reid have autism?" Serendipitous, how we chose a verse like "immensely more than you can ask or imagine" for our adoption appeal letter not knowing how literally God would answer it giving us two babies not one! Uncanny, how God led us to choose a verse in the past knowing what it would mean to us in the future.

I built my premise on Ephesians 3:20 that God operates in a 4th dimension. In addition to height, length, and width, He has time at His disposal. The whole talk is about 40 minutes so I'll be excerpting her in print for some time.

Here's the clincher. Nervous and excited about public speaking, I arrived plenty early to acclimate to the large multi-purpose room where MOPS meet. At their sign-in table along with the name tags were directories for the year. Guess what was on the cover? A roller coaster and the Ephesians 3:20 verse! Who knew?

You got it! Not only does He know, He loves each of us enough to make our day. I love how He loves us with mini-miracles (as my mom calls them) like that...deploying His infinite power over timing and providence in finite details to demonstrate His immense love for us.

Has God made your day lately? How?


And I pray that you...grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge Ephesians 3:17-19


Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be glory Ephesians 3:20


As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. John 9:1-3

He's Gotcha Covered

Remember that scene from Sophie's Choice? Putting Reid on a school bus for the first time recently felt like selling him into slavery?  Maybe it's because mine are twins and I often feel like I'm always choosing one child over the other in a win/lose scenario. Maybe it's because we adopted them and I am overcompensating on a personal vow to never impose rejection on them.  Maybe it's because Reid has autism and I am practiced at hypervigilance. Maybe it's because I rode a bus to school when I was a kid and (even though I was verbal) didn't tell my mom all that happened on it. Maybe its because we homeschooled for years and I consider constant surveillance the norm. 

Whatever and however many the reasons, I just now (Reid is 13) had that quintessential experience of motherhood: waving to him from the curb having entrusted my child to that gape-mouthed orange whale, the school bus. 

This seemed an economical decision.  I had been driving a 40-mile round trip to his school twice a day.  As I put the wheels in motion, I kept my options open saying maybe he'd just ride one way to start.  I rationalized that he would mature from it.  I prayed about which driver would be assigned and what other students would be on the route. "Lord, let me know if he's ready for this." The transportation department called and I asked many questions trying to give a not too scary description of what Reid might do in the process of becoming familiar with the bus riding routine (ie. visit another student's front door, change the driver's radio station, check other riders' ipods, check out the view from other seats). It became quickly apparent to her that perhaps we should have gotten approval for an aide to ride with him.  Not wanting to be greedy, I let her run it by the powers that be.  In short order, Reid's was switched to another route where an aide rode along with the driver.

 

The day arrives; Reid is stoked; he skips onto the bus in his characteristic exuberant fashion. That was easy? Ugh...wait...what do I do now? The not knowing, the emotion, the fear.... I sat in prayer until the time I knew he'd reached the destination point where I'd usually dropped him off.  Now what? I'd have to wait 8 hours to maybe hear or decipher how it went. I called my mom to commiserate; no answer. I called a soul sister friend; left a message. I broke down in tears. I began my Bible study. It's still only 8:30am. These two extra hours a day could just change my life!

The phone rings. It is the sweet bus driver, Sandy, calling to tell me what a nice young man Reid is and how happy they are to have him on their bus. He did a great job with the seat belt. She thought I'd want to know!  Oh boy, would I. As our conversation continued I learned all about her. She has a grandson with autism; her husband drives a bus at the local Christian school my daughter attends; she prays every morning with some other drivers before they leave the depot. 

Could Reid be in any better hands? Now I realize that riding this bus is a privilege I could not withhold from him. Wow! Could I have planned that? No amount of my orchestration, manipulation, worrying or control could have master minded that scenario.  All I could think was, "Thank you Lord."  He seemed to reply, "I gotcha covered." The Lord has got us covered with His glorious shield--you, me, and Reid. Sometimes we realize it and sometimes we don't. This time I did.

Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.  Proverbs 30:5

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  Matthew 6:27

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:3-6

photo credit:  www.cleanairsys.com