Fishing Boat Guide

You might be wondering about the title of this blog post considering it has seemingly little to do with adoption or Ethiopia. But I chose it because it reminds me of a story about my grandparents that I have been thinking about lately as my plans for our adoption and God’s plans have been at odds with each other.

The story is simple. After 30 years of working in a steel mill and raising 3 children my grandparents planned to move to table rock lake (about a 4 hour drive from their home in Kansas City). There my grandfather planned to be a fishing boat guide and live out his retirement in relative ease and relaxation. (I never asked my grandma what she was going to do, but I can assume it would involve solitaire and puzzles) But it turns out, my grandparent’s plans and God’s plans didn’t align, a feeling Mike and I are all too familiar with these days. You see God didn’t need another fishing boat guide he needed missionaries. So with a single phone call from an old friend, my grandparent’s retirement turned from relative ease and relaxation to over 15 years of ministry all along the east coast (about a 4 day drive from their home in Kansas City).

What you might ask does this have to do with your adoption? Well, it is my reminder that no matter how far God’s plan and timing may be from our own; his are always better. The ripple of my grandparent’s ministry was vast, I can only imagine all that would have miss out if they had chosen the ripple of a physical lure over the spiritual ripple of following God’s will. And I know I will look back someday just as I now can at their story and see why this adoption has happened the way it has. I will understand God’s timing and see his will at work. I will count the ripples of our choices just as I do my grandparents.

But for now all I can do is remind myself of all the examples in Mike and I’s life when God’s plan was far greater than we dreamed or imagined. I can’t help but laugh as I look back at our plans vs. God’s reality. The fact that I thought I would be an architect, now I wake up everyday overjoyed to teach art. The reality that Mike was sure he was meant to be an accountant but God clearly gave him amazing talents as a photographer. The irony that I thought I would live in Kansas City my whole life. The laughable plan that Mike and I had to have kids within a year of being married. I mean my gosh our life is what God points to when he is trying to prove to his children how futile it is to make your own plans! So to these examples I will continue cling as I try to reason with God to hurry this adoption up and get on my schedule. To the would-be fishing boat guide my mind will fixate. And I will continue to tell myself over and over that God has never forsaken me and no matter how much I ache for my baby to be here right now, his will is being done. His plan is being fulfilled, not my own, and in the end I will be so thankful for that.

...your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10