Delighting in Detours

There was a little mix up this week with the renewal of the link up program. I am so sorry! It will take a few days to process so I'm going to extend last weeks and all should be ready to go next week.

But speaking of little detours, I've come to realize that my life is often characterized by them in the most beautiful way. One particular way was an ah-ha moment this last week. When Austin and I decided to move closer to our ministry location it meant moving to a pretty bad school district. Think bombs, guns, rapes, homosexual agenda, new age push. We trusted that if God wanted us closer to be able to reach more people for Christ, He would enable me to homeschool. Where He calls, He provides right. So we moved and had a super amazing moving story of how He showed off. So, I was all set to homeschool. But then Austin meets a lady at the park telling him about a brand new Christian, Classical school that started up two blocks from our house. He gets her number and wants me to call her. I was like a mule with it's feet stuck in the mud. Why in the world would I call some strange lady my husband met at the park when we already had a plan!? And that's weird. After all our praying and thinking about our decision, lets not move backward. Then two weeks later I meet a man at the park who starts telling me about this great new Christian Classical school that started up just a couple blocks away. I was stunned... and confused wondering if this was the husband of the lady I didn't call. So this nice young man gave me his wife's phone number. Ok, can you imagine that? "Hi, uh, I met your husband at the park..." No. I was not going to do that.
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Two weeks later my father in law is in town and we go to (at the time) the closest Chick-fila which was NOT close. I'm telling him the crazy story of the park people when my oldest runs up to me and says, "My friends are here!" Then a lady walks up and says, "Are you Asher and Uriah's mom?" After I said yes, she said she met my husband at the park the other week...  The park lady!! (Turns out she wasn't married to the man I met. Four separate people here.) Well, she invited me to an open house for the school. But you know how life is busy. Well, this one day I just kept thinking about the open house and the thought (thank you Jesus) kept popping in my head, "Just check the dates."  So I did and it turned out the ONLY open house I could make was that night. So I went. A little embarrassed it took that much to get me to move.

I walk in and the first person I see was this lady who I had a crazy divine appointment with months earlier. Here's the story: we used to rent out our basement to a sweet student. She had gone with us on a retreat in the mountains and as she was telling me about this family she really wanted us to meet. We look up and there is the very lady she is talking about. No joke! How crazy is that. All of us are in this tiny mountain town 2 hours away from Denver at the same exact time. So, that lady is the first lady I run into at the open house. Needless to say, the boys started the school the next semester.

That was 2 1/2 years ago. And now the Lord is clearly leading us back to homeschooling. The school is still amazingly wonderful but for some reasons that have more to do with our need to be flexible in case of relocating and finances, today was the boys last day of school. There were tears and sadness but also joy as there is as we follow the Lord. And I find myself reflecting on why the Lord would have such a dramatic detour for us. But I am a different person as a result of that school. I have been trained on how to be a better parent and will be a better teacher to my kids as a result of the things I learned. So though, it's just not about me, the Lord sure used these past couple years to shape me more into the teacher He wants me to be for my kids.

Isn't that just like God. Having a destination we both see clearly but He sees a completely different route than we so often think.

So this fall I will be a tutor with a brand new-just starting up Classical Conversations group in our area. And I guess the picture needs some sort of explanation. Well, our little detour included two babies in the last 2 1/2 years. This picture was taken in the hospital when Willow was born and captures the chaos. But here we have God's grace written all over the chaos.

About Laura

Laura, the founder of Missional Women is married and has five kids, two of whom are adopted. Laura and her husband have been missionaries to college students for 13 years serving with Master Plan Ministries where she is the Women's Development Coordinator. Laura has authored 5 books, including an award winning 12 week Bible Study on First Samuel, Beholding Him, Becoming Missional, Reach; How to Use Your Social Media Influence for the Glory of God, and A Devotional Journey through Judges, a devotional to accompany the free online Bible study at TheBookofJudges.com. You can find her on facebook,twitter, pinterest, youtube, instagram and her author site.



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