Congratulations! You've Made It to the Middle.

We’ve all had those moments. So let me just confess mine now and get it over with.

Isaac was invited to a birthday party for the prettiest little girl from church. I wrote it down on the calendar and was all set to go. The party would be at an apple orchard, complete with apple picking, cider donuts, a bouncy house, and a hayride. Who wouldn’t have fun? I get directions, stop at Target for the gift, and head out on the highway. We, meaning the kids and I, actually get there on time. There is special parking for the birthday parties and we head up to the party area. Only I don’t see the girl’s name on any of the party sign boards and I don’t see the birthday girl. That is not a good sign. I ask one of the workers about the party and find out it was the week before. Right place, right time, wrong date. Completely wrong date. I felt absolutely horrible, not mention like a complete idiot. The kids were disappointed and so was I.


We still, however, made it a fun day despite the little calendar mishap. We went thru a hedge maze, which Isaac thought was a blast and Isabella actually stayed in the stroller for that. And we went apple picking together. They had ladders to get to the apples in the tops of the trees. We all climbed on them, though not all at one time. Isaac wasn’t afraid to climb on them and Isabella, well, she is fearless. We got a big bag full of Macintosh and Red Delicious. Isabella managed to eat not only the apple, but almost all of the core as well. And my favorite part was the cider donuts. I got a dozen and they were delish. We had a fun time being together without any agenda or timeframe.

When we got to the center of the maze, there was this sign, “Congratulations. You’ve made it to the middle. Now find your way out.” I’ve thought about that sign a lot lately. I’ve felt like that before. Yay, I’ve completed a big task, now what? Big deal. And sometimes, like house cleaning or nose blowing, we have continually keep doing the task. I sometimes feel like this in my spiritual walk with the Lord. “Okay, Lord. I made this huge leap in my family life and career. Now what?” He doesn’t always show us the way out. He lights our paths, yes, but we have to trust Him in those dark times, in those places where we can’t see out and over the hedges. And especially, in those times that seem like dead ends. I believe that it is in those dark and seemingly dead ends that God teaches us the most, that we need him the most, that we learn to relay on Him because our lives depend on it. I don’t think God is a masicist at all, but I think He must love comforting us during those times, like a parent whose child is sick.

I am reminded of a scripture that deals with this. Paul write in Philippians, “I am confident of this that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” God isn’t going to get us to the middle of our journey, our life, our task and say, “Okay, I’ve led you this far now it’s up to you. Hope everything works out for you.” Quite the opposite is true. And what a wave of relief that is. The God of Ages cares for us in our daily lives and in our big picture moments, too

Yes, that is Isabella climbing the ladder.