This beach wheelchair in the making has me thinking about God's plans. When I was in Junior High, I needed a date to a last minute cheerleader party. I called my best friend in a panic (it's Junior High...this is MAJOR) because I had no date and it's the day of the party. My friend's brother happens to know that his best friend would be more than willing to go to this party with me. So, they call him and ta-da!!! I have a date.
My date meets me at the cheerleader sponsor's house (neither of us is old enough to drive). We watch the original Karate Kid...I'm not sure Will Smith is born at this point, much less his son who starred in the re-make several years ago. Anyway, within a few weeks, I have an official boyfriend!! We are really serious...talking on the phone (it was connected by a plug in the wall, we didn't have cordless yet and we had NEVER heard of cell phones) and writing letters, real letters with paper and pens!! We even folded them in that special 80's way:
As I looked at the beginnings of this beach wheelchair, it amazed me to think how God knew even wwwwaaaayyyy back in Junior High where my life would go. That boy who I took to the Jr. High Cheerleader party and wrote 10 page letters to everyday...he was Trent!!!
As we dated through high school and college and made plans for our life, God knew where we were headed. He knew that when crazy college Trent insisted that we have a son named Reece, after Kyle Reese in The Terminator (I swear this is true), that little boy would wait for us across the world in Kazahkstan. God knew that it would take years and years before our dreams came true and that a tiny little girl in Russia would finally make us parents.
He absolutely knew that the boy I asked to that party a million years ago was meant for me. God always intended for him to be the one to literally pick me up off the floor every month as we struggled through infertility. Through the ups and downs of 20 years of marriage, God knew that we'd make it through the rough times. He knew that as we raised Mary Ashtyn and Reece, His plans were nowhere near finished. I think God probably laughed through the years as Trent and I said over and over that our family was finished. As we marveled at parents raising children with special needs or adopting older children and agreed that we could never do that. God knew!
Only God would know that a first date watching The Karate Kid in 1987 would lead to a beach wheelchair built for 2 in 2015. As I watched Trent measure and cut and make trips to the store to get more supplies for Lily and Ava's chair, it reminded me how meticulous God's plans are. I watch my first date plan and build this wheelchair and my heart is full. I am so very thankful that God knew who I needed right beside me through all the stops and starts in our crazy adventure.
Now, I've got to wake up my lazy husband who is sleeping in the chair as I type! We have four kids going in 4 different directions tomorrow...there could be some screaming going on before we make it through the day, but God knows that too!
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| God knows nobody else could put up with him!!! LOL |
