We Know Who Holds The Future

  
  Seventeen years ago, today, we moved into our new home.  Although many unknowns lay ahead of us, we did not allow that to create worry or fear.  The delight we had while unpacking boxes, gave us images of what life would be like ahead in this house we would now call home.  The reason behind our decision to buy a more spacious home was our anticipation that it would be filled with family.  We did not understand precisely what that would look like.  Both my husband and I in our forties, yet we believed that God had a family plan for us. 

     Seventeen years ago, today, we did not know that there would be more commotion between the walls of our home, more than a husband, a wife, and a blind dog could produce.  On that day, the unfamiliar environment overwhelmed the dog, who fell down a full flight of steps attempting to find my familiar voice that rose from the lower level.  A terrible shock to us, but as fortune would have, she survived without injury.   
  

     Seventeen years ago, today, we did not know that we would be filling our dossier with hopes of adopting children in a foreign land, not once, but twice.  We had no vision of how God would fill the yearnings of our hearts for a family.  God was good, not only in supplying our desires but filling our hearts with hope for the next generation who would come to know Him as LORD of their lives.

     Seventeen years ago, today, we did not know that we would be enjoying a family vacation in Northern Michigan, much different than any vacation we have experienced to date.  As we sit and sip coffee on the deck of a rented condo overlooking a beautiful bay, we did not know that we would enjoy the sights of incredible sunrises and sunsets while listening to calm waters find their way to shore.  Previous vacations spelled a flurry of activities surrounded by sun, sand, and strangers, but this time, far more peaceful and serene.

     For the past week, we’ve been observing several families of ducks, mothers with multiple babies.   One mother, a Common Merganser, has drifted along the shore with her babies clinging to her back for a free ride.  We’ve seen on more than one occasion her zeal in protecting them from predatory male ducks.    On the other hand, we’ve seen several families of Mallard ducks whose mother allows them to drift freely from her side.   She doesn’t seem to have as great of a concern for her young ones.  As the waves increase, often several of her ducklings bob in the peaks and valley’s of waves, out of sight of their mother who is not sheltering them among her feathers.  It is far less worrisome for her as she tends her chicks.  I imagine that I am much more like the Common Merganser than the Mallard.

     For the past several days, we have been enamored by the beautiful sunrises and sunsets.  We marvel at the beauty God has given us to behold.  For a few days, the cares of the world seem to drift away like the waves that find their way to shore.  In this time of uncertainty with the pandemic that plagues so many people of this world, we know not to call unnecessary risk into our lives.  But like the purchase of our home, seventeen years ago, today, the waves are a good reminder that things come and things go.  The past seventeen years have given us a glimpse of God’s grace toward us.  He supports and directs our lives; we know that He intends things for our good.  He has blessed us with a home filled with children and a spiritual family that encourages our dependence on God.   No one knows what lies ahead seventeen years, nor seventeen months, seventeen weeks, or seventeen days, for that matter.  But we can rest in the hope that even though we cannot see what lies ahead, God in His steadfast love watches over us.  He has prepared an everlasting home.  We can use our voices to attest to God’s goodness, and even more significant, His firm foundation.  Even though we can only imagine, we see evidence through Scriptures that God’s promises stand; with this, we can have the assurance that the best is yet to come.