Surprise!

I didn't take many photos this weekend...but this is a good one!  I had such a wonderful time with William and Stephanie and I really did not want them to leave yesterday.  Will starts his Sophomore year at Mizzou this week and Stephanie's little boy (my nephew) will be starting Kindergarten.  Obviously they had to get home, but it was hard to say good bye.

We chatted about how we felt that we were just on the cusp of the end of an era, just about to approach a new chapter in all of our lives.  There are big changes happening in each of our lives and of course there is the biggest change occurring all around us.  For months I have been silent on this subject, but it is no secret in my personal life that my parents are getting a divorce.  Not much has been said because in many ways I am far removed from the situation, physically and mentally and emotionally.  Also, it seems as though we are all just holding our breaths, awaiting the inevitable, before we can move along with our lives.

No one's life is on hold or affected more than the lives of my parents of course.  I really couldn't even bring myself to go home to visit them over the course of this past year.  So it has been exactly that, a year, since I have seen either my mom or my dad.  Thankfully my sisters and my brother all made trips out to see me this summer instead.

Imagine my surprise, however, when we sat at Uncle Jimmy's on Saturday waiting for my Aunt Linda and her family to arrive, when my mom pulled up!

It was such a shock!  I would not have guessed in a million years that I would be spending the day with my mom!

We spent the afternoon playing in waterfalls in the mountains.  It couldn't be more picturesque!

The boys butt-slided down the waterfall, and even my mom got in on the action!

There she goes!

What a fun surprise and a joy to see my mom after a whole year!  It has been a rocky year and the day wasn't all smiles and butt-slides.  There were tears and sad conversations, confessions and forgiveness.  It was an important day for me and my mom.  A time that was God-ordained, God-planned, and God-timed.  I have had my relationship with my mom in my heart and on my mind over the last few weeks and needed an opportunity to share with her how I was feeling and an apology that was a long time overdue. 

We had to leave the mountains pretty early on Saturday so I could get home to prepare for my Sunday School lesson at church.  We said good bye to mom and parted ways after just a few short hours.  Even as we drove away it was very surreal that I was able to spend time with her! 

Sometimes I envision God sitting up in heaven on his throne, tapping his fingers together and in a jolly but manipulative way chuckling, "Ha, ha, ha."  Just when we have things all figured out, he spins the our world in a different direction and we go flying off to the left, and something so unexpected lands right at our feet.  In my mind, God is like the basketball player spinning the ball on the tip of his finger, and just because he feels like it, he turns into a Harlem Globetrotter, gives the ball a wicked toss and rolls it right down his arm, behind his back, and down the other arm, bringing it to a spin on his finger on his other hand, in the opposite direction. 

My mom had no way of knowing the prayer and petition that was lifted up about our relationship.  That I had received wise council just two weeks ago and was meditating what God was commanding me to do.  I wondered how it would play out and when would be a right opportunity.  And just then, God provided me with the opportunity I was after.  Of course I shied away, "Not now God, not today.  I'm not ready yet."  But it isn't my timing, it is God's.  And when I allow God's timing in my life great things happen.  Just like meeting my husband.  Just like visiting Africa.  I should never question God's timing.