When God Shows up He Shows off!

God did an amazing thing the weekend of September 28, 2009; it was weekend of reconciliation.

My son Brent and daughter-in-love Lyn Rose were married on this day.

For me this was a very emotional time in my life; the old saying, “A son is a son until he gains a wife, a daughter is a daughter for all of your life.” I know rings true in many families. Therefore, this was a very emotional weekend and I had been in prayer a great deal as I approached it. My prayers were requests for grace and strength as I said good-bye to my son, whom I had been very close to during his growing up years. He was also a pleasure to raise, and over the years had become a friend and confidant. I had home schooled him throughout his high school years. As most kids draw away from their parents during these years he and I had become closer. So you see having him marry first was very difficult indeed.

Now of course there was something else going on this weekend, my ex-husband and his relatives were going to be in attendance. I had not seen nor spoken to Brent’s Father in a number of years and for his family it had been about twenty years since I had seen or spoken to them. Needless to say I was curious about seeing them all again but that was about it. I was not worried; I did not even pray about what would happen when we saw each other.

God however had bigger plans!

A few days before the wedding Rob and his wife came into town for the wedding (they live in Vermont). They came to our house (in Virginia) the day before the wedding to pick Brent up, he was going to stay with them that night. When his Dad arrived I went outside to greet them and he gave me a hug, as did his wife. I was shocked! (The divorce had been a difficult one and we had never gone past that, just stopped communicating.) We exchanged a few niceties and they were on their way.

Well, now I was thinking about my ex-husband. Since he had been so friendly I thought I should do something in turn. As my husband and I were hosting the rehearsal dinner I had not discussed any details with Rob. Now I was being convicted that I should include him in the festivities. So, I asked him to give the toast during the dinner party. I figured that since he was not a Christian he could say the toast and my husband could say the prayer. Seemed at the time like a good division of labor. I had no idea that God was up to something amazing!

The day of the rehearsal was a whirl-wind of activity Lunch with the bride and her mother, my brother (who was officiating the ceremony) and his family arrived from Michigan, and my sister and I needed to decorate the room where the rehearsal dinner was to take place. By the time dinner was served I was hungry and tired. I had Rob give the toast after the meal, before dessert and before the slide show that I created of Brent and Lyn Rose was played.

When he started the toast he made a few nice comments about Brent and Lyn Rose and then looked over to where I was sitting with my husband and my extended family members. His next words went something like this, “What I really want to say is, anything good you see in my son is because of the way Karen and Steve raised him, You see I was absent a lot of Brent’s life and they were the ones to parent him…” And he went on from there.

We were all shocked, never had God done such an amazing thing that I had not even prayed for. The entire weekend he and his family were pouring blessings upon us at every moment. God was using non-Christians to bless us, his kids. We serve an amazing God!

Now my first husband and I are friends and grandparents! As the years have passed from my sons wedding I now see that I did not loose a son I gained a daughter and a friend in my ex-husband! Again God is amazing!

Jeremiah 10:12-13

“But God made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding, he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.”

Enjoy the Journey ~ Karen Heidorn