My three sisters flew in to Spokane before I even got back from Oregon. One night we were playing card games late into the night at my dining room table. We were alone, since my husband was on the computer in the office. Between rounds of Dutch Blitz, my sisters wanted to have a fashion show with my Bahamas wardrobe that God had so sweetly given me.
The first dress I came out in was my white one. My sisters were so wowed by it; they couldn’t believe how good I looked. One of my sisters said I had the body of a 20-year-old. I looked at her, because I was 40, and my real honeymoon (which was so nightmarish because of the sin of another man) took place during my 20’s. I ran to the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror, and I don’t know how, but my body looked like I was in my 20’s. I broke down and cried right then and there, because the best years of my married life were wasted because of tragedy, and I thought I would never get those years back. But God gave me back the years the locusts had eaten.
“Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten… And you shall have plenty to eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; then my people will never be put to shame.” (Joel 2:25-26)
And this verse came to pass. And I had joy.
There were so many other little miracles that took place in preparation for us leaving to the Bahamas. My mother had been burned out from watching my children for an entire week between the two conferences in Seattle and Oregon. If I had known, I would have come home, but she never said it was too much for her.
Basically, everything else had fallen into place: the low cruise price, the low plane ticket prices, the Bahamas wardrobe that made me cry… But now I didn’t know who would take care of the kids for a week. Both sets of grandparents are able-bodied, but they are not used to four children with lots of energy, so it’s really an inconvenience to them. I was sad that this detail was not taken care of yet. It was days before the cruise. I almost just hired a babysitter, even though, truth be told, we didn’t have the money at this point, because we had already paid for everything, including the excursions.
I sighed.
Then one night I needed to drop off something at my mom’s house, and she told me to come in. My dad was at an elder’s meeting at the church, so I decided to hang out with my mom. We started chatting, and the subject of watching the kids came up. I was so stressed out that I almost started crying. I said, “Mom, I wish you understood that God is giving me back the honeymoon I never had. I’ve told you of all the miraculous things that have led up to this point. God wants us to go. And yet I don’t want to burden you with the kids. But I don’t have the money to hire a babysitter for a week.”
Suddenly my mom’s face changed. I’m certain it was the Holy Spirit. In one moment she was upset about watching the kids, and in the next moment, she had joy about it. It was impossible. But I saw her face, and I knew the Holy Spirit did it. My mother is a godly woman. She was tired, but the Holy Spirit took her over, and she felt joy anyway. She started talking about all the things she wanted to do with my kids, and she was excited. Only God could have done that.
As soon as I drove home that night, I looked at my phone messages. My sister texted me that she had been praying about the babysitting for the Bahamas during the past hour, and that she had been on her knees for an entire hour about it.
I fell to the floor and cried for joy and gratitude, texting her about what happened, and about how my mom had responded. We both felt incredible joy.
(Stay tuned for part 4 of my Bahamas trip story, where my sister prayed for crazy things I never would have thought of, and how all those things came to pass and more…)
Homeschooling often puts a strain on marriage. Join Alan and Susan Evans as they talk about how to keep marriage a priority during the homeschool years. It’s so easy to let homeschooling take over your life, as a homeschool mom. Because we pour our lives into homeschooling, we often feel joy about what we accomplish in that area. Don’t let homeschooling take your eyes off your marriage. Maintaining a connection with your spouse does not come naturally if you don’t nurture it. Marriage is a topic that both Alan and Susan feel strongly about, and their refreshing honesty will help you to envision how your marriage is supposed to be.
