All Things for Good

I wasn't supposed to see my grandma at Thanksgiving.

We had plans to drive to Wisconsin, but because our shipment had been delayed repeatedly, Erik had to go to Orlando to receive it. My parents were going to visit my grandma at the nursing home, and I decided to go with them because it might be the last time I saw her.

It was.

So often decisions we make, or things that happen to us beyond our control, upon reflection appear to be the orchestration of God. Her funeral could have been last Wednesday, but because of some family issues they scheduled it for Saturday. I probably couldn't have gone on Wednesday because Erik just got back on Wednesday morning from his trip. I found frequent flyer tickets. Erik had a couple days off of work to stay back with the kids. All these things added up to me being present for my first family funeral since 1999.

He works all things for good. I look back on my life and there are some events in my life - Ethan's birth, the last semester in China (the first time around), our move to Singapore, our move back to China - where, on paper, it didn't look the way I would have planned it. Circumstances I wouldn't have chosen, seemingly ordinary decisions, plus God's impecable timing - they all interwove to create something better than I imagined.

I might not have said it at the time, but afterward I can look back and see a God who is tender hearted, who cares about the details, who does indeed work all things for good.

If I can see it so clearly in these circumstances, how many other times have there been when He did work and I just didn't recognize it? And how many more will there yet be?