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| Reubin at The National Day of Prayer Service. |
Yesterday was Memorial Day, a day to
honor our men and women who have served or are serving in the military. I spent
parts of this Holiday weekend messaging here and there with Reubin a member of
our family who is currently serving in the Military down at Fort Hood. As I was attempting to go to sleep last
night, I found myself marveling at Gods impeccable timing. You see, we used to
live in this tiny, old, and very hodgpodged home. It had this nutty layout that
did not make a lot of sense, nor was it very functional, but it did come with 2
acres and 9 foster boys that lived 2 doors down from us. They were always a lot
of fun and up to some crazy antics. Little did we know at the time, but one of
these boys, would stay in our hearts and eventually family, in a way only God could
plan.
We lived in our little hodgepodge home for the first 6 years
of our marriage. It was a home full of lessons to be learned. (In other words it was old. The pipes froze,
the roof leaked, it occasionally flooded, and I was positive that if a tornado
came we would be carried off to the land of Oz in it.).) One of the actual joys of living there was
the boys who lived 2 doors down from us. They would constantly pop over for a
chat, to play golf, or to climb our huge elm trees. Sometimes they would be up
in a tree in our yard waiting for one of us to come out and other times they
would knock hurriedly at our door in utter excitement to show us something
their birthparent had sent them. They were all eager for some hang time. My
hubby had set up a mock golf course in our yard and one of the boys just loved
to come over and play it. His name was Reubin. I smile just thinking back on
it. He had a great smile that could light up a room. Sometimes we would open
our door to find him already started on a game. This was a joy to us. My hubby
worked for Chrysler and sometimes was able to bring home "fun" cars
like a Dodge Viper. He once asked Reubin if he wanted a ride home in one.
Reubin's eyes grew huge and then lit up with excitement! You did not have to
ask him twice, even if it was only a ride to his home 2 doors down from us, he
loved every second of it. There were good times and sometimes rough times. Once
we found Reubin wandering around outside crying without shoes in the middle of
winter. It was after this that my hubby
and Reubin’s foster parents had some disagreements about what they were doing
with all of those boys. Shortly after they told the boys they couldn't come
over anymore. This broke our hearts. It was worrisome, and heart wrenching. So we
continued to pray for them. Then we moved not too long after and thus sadly
thought we would never get to see them again. It was rough. The boys stayed in
our hearts, their faces didn't leave our minds so we continued to pray for
them. Even though the door seemed shut we knew it was important to pray.
Then God did something so cool. My sister called one day to
tell me about a new family at their church. It was Reubin's foster family. I
began praying all the more. I kept my
mouth closed about our past issues though because I didn't want anything to
interfere with them going to my sister's church. (I recalled hearing from one
of the boys that they had church hopped quite a bit before.) Then I noticed my
sister speaking more and more about Reubin. You see my sister and her husband work
with the youth of their church also, but Reubin was fast becoming more than
just a teen in their youth group, he was a part of their family. Finally one
day we were able to see Reubin again too. Wow! It was amazing to see Reubin all
grown up. He was no longer this little kid but a young man and now taller than
me.
It has been such a blessing to see God’s plan unfold. Reubin
is a permanent part of our family. My kids know Reubin well. He is the big
brother to my nieces, and nephew. He is the 4th child my sister was waiting
for. (Another story for another day) He calls our mom and dad his grandparents.
Reubin is one of God's gifts to our family. Right now he is away. He has been
serving in the military for the last 2 years. We are thankful he is on U.S.
soil again and at a base, but we cannot wait till he gets to come back for a
visit. He even helped my son with a recent school project which made my son’s
day. I am glad my son can look up to him and his example. He is such a
blessing! I love how God's plans come together! Where we thought a door had
closed God threw open a more permanent one a little further down the road. God's
plans are perfect and His timing is impeccable.
This is a reminder I need from day to day. There are other
members of our family in dire trouble and struggling. We help where they allow
us to and continue to pray. It’s been rough and scary at times, but I need the
reminder that God has a plan and His timing is impeccable. So I will trust Him.
He is always faithful.
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your
understanding.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
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| My sis and Reubin. |
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| Celebrating all of the guys birthdays in the family together. |
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| Good times and laughter. |
I have experienced some people that were bad friends. Have
you had one of these, or maybe too many of these? You know you call them to
talk, maybe share something that’s bugging you, and they barely listen to you.
If they are really stellar, they might even interrupt you to tell you something
about themselves instead. Or maybe they go into the trumping battle. Like oh that’s
awful, but this, this, and this happened to me and its way worse! They can get
even worse and then share your details with others and completely add new
details creating a monster of a lie about what you really said. Maybe they even
stab you in the back or blame you for their downfalls in life. 
It’s easy to get sick of these people, to start avoiding
their calls and texts. It’s easy to convince ourselves that it’s for the best
to “de-friend” them on facebook. Maybe
you tried to do the right thing and honestly share politely that this
friendship feels very one-sided, or maybe you end up screaming it out after you
hit your boiling point and the friendship goes down in a blaze of glory. (I
sure hope not.)
