There’s been several folks on my Facebook that have had their first baby recently. Ironically, I found this picture today.
5 years ago, I, too, had the scariest feeling in the world: I would be raising a perfect little girl without any and nurses to take her if I needed help. I was blessed with nurses in my family and some wonderful friends and mothers to help me out.
I’m not a “baby person”. I still get nervous holding other people’s kids. So I needed all the help and guidance I could get. When I look at Ellie, I see that little girl in the car seat with the animal pacifier hanging out of her mouth. But in reality, this is she:
We’ve had a lot of historical car rides since that first one. A car ride to day care, a car ride to get her to sleep, a car ride to church, a car ride to her friend’s funeral, a car ride to her first dance recital, a car ride to Kindergarten, and a car ride to play dates. Some rides are better than others.
Life is like that. You ever heard the phrase, “Life is like a roller coaster”? It is. It’s full of ups and downs. I grew up hearing the question, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” I did some deep studying of Job and realized that God is never the one with the idea of “bad things”. It’s ALWAYS Satan with the bad plan.
James 1:17 says, “Every GOOD and PERFECT gift is from above.” All the good stuff is from God. Sin, and our selfish surrender to Satan’s plan, is what transforms those good things to terrible things. Life is more like a book full of different chapters. Some are more exciting, some are so sad, some would have the reader yell at our character to choose a different path, and some chapters are beautiful. If God continues to hold the pen to our story, we can be guaranteed that the book will have a happy ending. “The pain that you have been feeling can not compare to the joy that is coming.” (Romans 8:18)
A lot of folks in my life had to make a difficult drive this weekend. It was a drive my Dad and I chose not to talk about the summer of 2007. We packed up, and drove to Florence. Dad wouldn’t let the cute fraternity boys hep with my stuff. He wanted to unload it all himself. One item at a time so it could take as long as possible. Finally, all of my things were unloaded. Dad half-hugged me and then they were gone. I wondered if their car ride home was as silent as the hour and a half I spent staring out the dorm window.
I get it now, cause, you see, this a picture of the day he dropped me off:
But this is what he saw:
I get that now, because I’m struggling with Ellie growing up. But you know what? That little girl is a good and perfect thing from above. She was a gift from God. As His child, I know he’s going to protect her. He’s going to protect all of your babies, too, if you are one of those parents who made the drive this weekend. I’ve got a few years until Ellie goes off, but each year I feel the sting of saying, “goodbye” to a good chunk of my students. I pray for them, wonder how they’re doing, and anxiously await to see how they are going to impact the world. A recent graduate came to see me at school last week to let me know she was nervous about moving this weekend. I was honored she came to me for a last minute visit. This morning, she sent me this picture of a piece of dorm decor.
These three ladies are going to do some incredible things. They are blessings to so many. Sure, they’ll have their own rough rides on the roller coaster, but their Momma’s raised them right. And God is a “shield about (them)” Psalms 3:2
Please join me in praying for all of these college students and especially for their cheerleaders missing them from afar.
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