Uncertain

“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.