When God redirects your steps, what’s your reaction? I’ve spent the last two weeks on an “unplanned” path, and it would have been easy to focus on disruptions, seeming failures, let-downs, or panic-producing moments. However, during this time, as I would take the next step and experience His new mercies with each new morning, I was reminded that my Sovereign God had included each of these steps in His plan for me. The focus became joy, gratitude, and even anticipation—for what He wanted to accomplish in me.

I could write page after page of the story of God’s perfect plan and timing as it was carried out these past few weeks, but instead, I’m going to “timeline” it so that the clarity of His hand is the focus of this post.

2012 – I began making preparations (via phone, e-mail, and text) with a precious bride and mother of the bride to coordinate a wedding in Baltimore, MD to be held on July 6, 2013.

Early 2013 – When the bride’s mom called about arranging my flight plans, I (red-faced) had to explain that I now have a fear of flying and would probably come via train, bus, or car.

Late March – Made travel plans with a friend headed near Baltimore to pick up a new car. We would ride out together and caravan back after the wedding.

June – Contacted my brother, who lives only a few hours from Baltimore, to see if he wanted to ride back with me, spend a week with my parents, and then return home via a one-way ticket (rather than round-trip). The puzzle pieces, though seemingly perfect, didn’t fit, so we took it as God’s plan for him to come at a different time.

Mid-June – My travel buddy’s car would not be available until the following week; therefore, and undertandably, she couldn’t be gone from her husband and kids that long and would need to fly out to Baltimore a week after the wedding. I planned to split up my trip, drive to my parents’ home, and head out alone from there. I also began checking for people in the Detroit area—where many of the bride’s relatives live—who may want to be a possible passenger. I was determined to get to this wedding, even if I had to start walking!

July 1 (Monday of wedding week) – Through a sudden change of travel plans for some of the bride’s relatives in Detroit, it was going to be possible for me to be the passenger and ride with several of her cousins—several of whom had been my former students. After a night with my parents, I would spend the night with my sister in the Detroit area on Wednesday night, and the cousins and I would head out for a fun road trip on Thursday.

Tuesday of wedding week – I drove to Indiana to spend the night with my parents and break up the travel time to Detroit.

Tuesday night – My parents were up a lot in the night; I heard them, but I figured they just drank a lot of water on Tuesday.

Wednesday morning, early – As I heard my parents downstairs, the routine was not normal, and I knew something wasn’t right. I headed downstairs around 5:30 a.m. Mom was in intense pain—a very rare thing for her; it was even more rare for her to accept my offer to call their family doctor once the office opened and then to drive her to the emergency room.

[It’s important to insert here that my amazing dad has Parkinsons Disease. Routine, calm, and order are important elements of daily life for Parkinsons patients; therefore, I wanted to be certain he was okay with everything and had order in his day as well. He’s a rock, exercises faithfully, and is capable of being very independent, but this was still a change for him, and I knew he would want to do whatever he could to help Mom—even though being with her at the hospital would not have been an option.]

Wednesday morning and early afternoon – Mom and I spent the day in the Emergency Department at the the nearby hospital in another town. She received incredible, loving, patient-focused care, and I am grateful! I called Dad frequently with updates because I know that I’d rather have the facts than let my mind create possible scenarios which are often worse than the facts.

Wednesday afternoon – Mom was admitted to the hospital for probable surgery following a day or so of observation. I went home and got Dad, because I knew it would be good for him to see that she was doing better and was safely settled into a hospital room; it would also be good for Mom to know he was doing okay. We stayed about an hour, and then Dad and I went home for the evening to return to a routine at home.

[When I went home to get Dad, I called the bride’s mother. This precious gem of a friend immediately said, “You need to stay with your mother.” I agreed, and because she and her daughter had prayerfully and carefully planned the wedding, finding someone to fill my shoes would be a piece of cake. I cried after I hung up, because part of my heart was in Baltimore with my friends—friends who understood the importance of family and who, in spite of a busy wedding weekend, continued to send texts all weekend to ask about my mom and let me know they were praying for her.]

Thursday – I spent the morning with Dad, we had an early lunch, and then we spent the afternoon with Mom. There was a cool recliner in her room, so she and Dad took naps “together” that afternoon while she rested in preparation for what was now to be Friday morning surgery. We took about 30 of Mom’s little booklets to give out as free thank-you gifts to her caregivers and even had to bring more the following morning. We figured that the Gospel was shared through those booklets more than 34 times in all!

Friday morning – I arrived at the hospital at 7:30 a.m. My parents’ pastor was already there, ready to read Scripture and pray with my mom and with me. (When I had surgery five years ago, I did not have this privilege, and I was reminded again of the importance of this not just for the person having surgery but also for their family members. Thank you to those pastors across the world who take the time—usually at inconvenient hours—to do this.)

Friday – I remained at the hospital through surgery, recovery, and as they got Mom settled back into a new room. Surgery went well, the offending organ was successfully removed, and she would be pretty wiped out—more from her needing to be in the emergency room than from the surgery itself, but the two combined made her able to rest easily. Because Mom was resting, I returned home to spend the day with Dad. We enjoyed the fellowship, and I must confess that he beat me in both games of SkipBo that night!

Saturday – Dad and I washed and changed the sheets (who wants to return from the hospital to last week’s sheets?), cleaned the house, and had another early lunch. (Meanwhile, at the hospital, a nurse from the floor Mom was on the day before came up to visit her and see how surgery had gone—she said they were calling Mom a traitor for leaving them for another floor. They all loved her sweet, positive spirit!) Mom got out of the hospital right after lunch, and when buckling the seatbelt for the ride home, she especially appreciated the pillow Dad had loving and thoughtfully sent along, in part, for that very reason. She rested when she got home—a sure sign that she had been quite sick before surgery.

Sunday through Sunday – We mentioned numerous times throughout the week how God had so carefully and specifically orchestrated each step of this unplanned path. It was my privilege to get to represent my siblings, in-laws, and nieces and nephews by showering love and help on my parents. Because of the nature of my “virtual” work, I was still able to work throughout the week and meet my clients’ deadlines, so God even saw to that element!

There are a gazillion other factors I’ve not taken time (and your reading time!) to list, but I shared all of the above to remind you, my friends, that God knows every star by name; He created the heavens, the earth, and each of us; He valued us enough and loved us so much that He sent His beloved family member, Jesus Christ, to take the imperative penalty for our sins on Himself, and die a horrid death (and rise again!) to pay the price required for our redemption. Precious friend, there is not one thing in your life that He doesn’t care about—down to the very pre-planned path that He will travel with you! Nothing is too hard for Him!

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