“The terrorists are FROM that country. They don’t terrorize
their own country!” she responded brightly.
This was supposed to be reassuring, a counterpoint to the enthusiastic
announcement that she would be leaving for the Middle East in weeks. However,
it was less than five years after the 9-11 tragedy and security alerts and
tensions were still high.
Sigh. Deep breath. Adjust.
Her newlywed husband had seen the reasonableness of it. The
baby nestled inside her was beginning to announce his presence in a new baby
bump, barely visible, but setting a boundary on when she could be out of the
country. “I would never travel there with a small child in tow. My dear friend
is studying there and has fallen in love with the people, the culture, and the
architecture. She’s so smitten, she may never return here. If I’m going to go,
now is the time.”
Sigh. Think. Wonder.
“The LORD will watch over me. The Bible says all my days
have been planned before the foundation of the earth. If I’m supposed to die
there, I will. If I’m not supposed to die there, I won’t.” The words we had
taught them about a biblical worldview being echoed back to us.
Sigh. Beg. Trust.
“When do you leave?”
Soon.
We prayed fervently for her adventure. Fortunately, her
layover was in a familiar city, London. The next morning we woke to news from
the BBC about several London bombings on public transportation. Not knowing how
to contact her, we waited for news. Exhausted from traveling on to her final destination,
it wasn’t until the next morning that we received an email informing us of her
safety and the sobering news that she had been traveling on those same vehicles
on those same routes only twelve hours before the explosions.
Now, colorful marketplaces, breathtaking scenery, new aromas
and flavors, wove a vibrant memory on her audacious undertaking with her
friend. The only real physical threat was the dehydration possibility as summer
temperatures soared in the Arabian landscape. The time passed too quickly as
places she had only read about were places she now was enjoying.
Then she was home. Full of excitement, stories, and pictures,
she returned eagerly to her homemaking tasks. Rushing outdoors to sweep the
front porch of their home before the arrival of an afternoon thunderstorm, she
didn’t notice the film of moisture already covering the smooth concrete from a
sprinkling earlier in the day. Her feet slipped out from under her and she
landed hard on her back on its damp surface. An emergency ultrasound confirmed that mother
and baby were still doing well.
Sigh. Relief. Rejoicing.
These events were very instructive to me as a mother.
Frankly, I wasn’t praying specifically for our daughter when she was in London,
nor did it occur to me to pray for her safety in her own home. I thought those
places were secure. My concerns for her were the uncertainties of traveling in
a faraway country.
I was wrong. The very places I assumed predictable, proved most
dangerous. The very place I assumed most dangerous, proved predictable.
Nevertheless, her Heavenly Father, always aware, always
present, was paying attention. His purposes and His plans for her could not be
thwarted.
Tomorrow is the beginning of a new year, 2014. Be glad that
in the times where you have not read the situation correctly, when you are
feeling vulnerable, unprotected, or exposed, your Heavenly Father is still
watching. His plan for you may be protection and prevention. Or it may not.
His purposes and plans for you cannot be thwarted. Trust
Him. He is trustworthy.
