September 5th
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
Psalms 139:16 NLT
I am so grateful God is writing the story of the Rader family. And as the author, he has made September 5 a special day for us over the years.
Fourteen years ago on September 5, I tried to put Stephen’s wedding band on the wrong hand. Thankfully he said “I do” anyway, and now we're blessed to be celebrating another anniversary.
Three years later on September 5, I woke up and took a pregnancy test. We were teaching Sunday School to 2nd and 3rd graders at that time, including a set of triplets. We wouldn’t know for another month that we were actually expecting 3 babies ourselves- that’s a whole story in itself.
And today I wake up, having shared with you once a week for 6 months. It’s not lost on me that God worked it out to have 6 months of my Tuesday Breakfast Notes land on September 5. And He did line it up this way; I’m not that good of a planner. According to Stephen and my plans, September 5th wasn't even supposed to be our day. We were getting married in May of 2010, after grad school graduation, until we changed our minds. We were expecting a baby on its way in any of the 13 months leading up to that 3 year anniversary surprise. And I drug my feet for months before starting these breakfast notes- it was going to be too hard and I wouldn't be able to keep up. Since having triplets, I have always said that I'm glad we aren't following my plan! I think too small. Too short term. Without much creativity. But God- WOW! He is so good at reminding us why He is in charge! It's hard to be patient. It's hard to wait for the storyline of our lives to come together. But when we're feeling the struggle of understanding why and how and when, maybe we can just tip the umbrella back and look up through the rain, like my silly Leni in the artwork today. We're sure to see God smiling back as he writes the next chapter. If you stop and reflect, can you find God working in ways maybe you hadn't noticed before?
Leni in the rain, August 2022.
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