An Unexpected Journey

Sometimes we get the unexpected. When my daughter walked out of my life to join the thousands of adult children who estrange from their parents...it certainly wasn't what I expected. After all, I had given up my career to be a stay at home mom, sacrificed in more ways than I could ever list. I had taught her kindness, that people matter and to work hard. Our family ate dinner together and went to church on Sundays. I loved her, cherished her and tucked her in at night. Though certainly I know I did many things wrong...what parent doesn't...but at the end of the day, I was a good mom. I expected she would turn out well...go to college, get married, have children or at least a dog. It was what her dad and I worked for...dreamed of...and prayed for...but God had another plan for her and for us and it wasn't what we expected or even liked.

We often have to endure pain, be humbled to the point of humiliation in order to learn and gain the wisdom we need to grow. It's often hard for us, whose hearts are hurting for those we love and have lost, to see that there will be something good that comes from the unexpected. Though we may not see it this side of heaven, God promises us that He works for the good in ALL things...not just good things or planned things or right things...but ALL things...even the hard, painful, take you to your knees things...like when your child cuts you out of their life. It is that promise that gets me through the dark moments...the ones that invade my mind with thoughts of the unimaginable...like that I may never get to see my daughter walk down the aisle or hold a grandchild or something may happen to me or her before I get the chance to tell that I love her....unconditionally.

Though the unexpected is well...unexpected, it may just take us to where we need to go...somewhere we may never have gone if left up to us. Starting a support group, creating a website, blogging or embarking on forming a non-profit organization, weren't ever on my radar of things I would be doing..yet here I am...and it feels like exactly where I should be.