The Road to You

In the Bible when Jesus is talking about leaving earth, He tells the disciples that He is leaving to prepare a place for them. He tells them will one day return to take them to that place to be with Him. This verse came alive to me this week, when I was blessed to watch a family grow through adoption.

As I sat in a court room, of mostly unfamiliar faces, I heard the adoptive mom tell the judge “We were having our annual home visit, and when I showed the social worker the nursery we had prepared, she audibly gasped. That’s when [the social worker] told us about [the baby girl that now sat in their laps awaiting a signature on paper that would make her their little girl forever]” On that day they were a young couple with a nursery prepared, but no baby. The very next day, a precious baby, their future forever daughter, was welcomed home. They had prepared a place.

Back on the day that the social worker was gasping at the sight of a waiting nursery, I was at home crying because I knew this precious little girl needed a forever family. I questioned God. I wondered why we weren’t the ones to walk out life with this little love.

Has God ever called you to a place, only to give you a different job you thought He called you to? Doesn’t that switch up confuse a person? It does for me.

God called me to love a little girl, and also subsequently fall in love with her birth family. God called me to have hard conversations about adoption with the birth mom. God called me to advocate for healthcare appointments a sweet little girl. All of those jobs I felt equipped and able to do. I was proud to be the one in the role God called me to. Then just when I’m thinking “I was made for this” God called me to say goodbye to the baby girl in need of a forever family. I thought WHY!!!?? Why would you not tell us she is ours? Why would she be in need of a forever family, you send her to us, and then say “let go?!” He didn’t make anything clear except, the “let go.”

Obedience led to me being allowed in that court room the other day. Obedience has also left me crying. “I don’t want to do this again. This hurts too much.”

Obedience is only hard when we don’t understand the why…..God always has a very good why. Sometimes we are aware of the why.. Other times we have to lean into faith. We have trust the one who calls and not our limited understanding of what God may be up to.

I smile today, as I type this. Now I see.

I don’t know all the details, but that envisioned waiting nursery, the smiles on the faces of the new parents, the court room filled with friends and family celebrating this little girl becoming a forever family member…all of it says that while I was crying and questioning, God was preparing a place. The most perfect place.

As my eyes watched the new little family and their bond, as my ears took in the words of the adoptive mom, I let tears fall. Tears that acknowledged God’s faithfulness. Tears that bear witness to the hard days being worth the privilege of seeing God at work. Tears of happiness.

Hearing of the prepared nursery, seeing the dreams of forever family that I wanted for that little girl come true. All of it strengthened my resolve to keep being obedient.

I still have questions. I still have other babies that I shed tears for….But I know…God is preparing a place for all of us. I encourage you to trust God when it doesn’t make sense. I encourage you to believe that if you don’t feel He is near enough, just know He is only away preparing a place. Sometimes it’s a physical earthly place that you or your loved one will walk out forever in. Other times, it’s the heavenly house with many rooms where we will all get to spend forever with Him. There is usually a wait. There are bends in our paths. But….the place of promise exists. It might not be where you think it is….but it’s there. It’s perfect. It’s good.

When in doubt repeat the following:

Always, God is good.

Always, God is kind.

Always, God is at work.

He makes good on all His promises. Always. Always. Always. He never fails.