I’m pretty sure that when I reflect back on the summer of 2012 I will un-fondly remember it as the “summer of no.”
Check out our summer plans! (The strike-throughs show plans that did not come to fruition.)
- Celebrate a family wedding in the Dominican with my man Sneak in a weekend in the mountains with my man, followed by several days of hard labour in our rental house while the kiddies camped with Grandma.
- Spend a weekend and a few bucks thirteen fifteen-hour days and a whole lotta bucks fixing up our rental house between tenants.
- Watch a special person (our babysitter for the past few years) get married, and watch my children be part of her special day.
- Go camping at least one of the two remaining weekends in July.
- Go camping at least two more weekends in August.
- One of those camping weekends to be spent with my parents and siblings driving the countryside frantically searching for a good 4G or wifi connection to meet print deadlines for work, celebrating my dad’s upcoming 60th birthday. (I was present for the birthday dinner and cake, thank goodness.)
- Pat heading off on his “guys’ weekend” of camping and quadding in the bush, while I…
- Pack up the kids, hop in the vehicle with my mom, and head to Manitoba for two weddings and a baby shower (three of my cousins, all three from the same family)!
You may notice a couple things missing between the plan and the reality. That’s where the “summer of no” comes in.
We had to say no to the Dominican, to several camping weekends, and – sigh – to Manitoba. That one’s particularly difficult, as it’s going on right now. The reason(s) we had to say no…well, because God said no to us.
There is a part of me that believes in the whole reaping and sowing principle. So I believe that one of the reasons God gave us His no to several of our plans was simply a natural consequence for other decisions we’ve made with our finances. After all, money can only be stretched so many ways before you encounter thin air.
But I don’t believe God is vindictive, wanting to “teach us a lesson” all the time with no room for grace. So I know that there was more to His “no”s this summer than our discipline. (And I also know it’s not proper to start sentences with conjunctions, but clearly I don’t feel inclined to follow the rules.)
In the midst of this summer of no, God has cushioned every hard lesson with a gentle, soft blessing.
We didn’t get to go to the Dominican and hang with Pat’s family for a week. If we had, we’d have never had the funds available for the emergency (and expensive) truck repairs that were required in order to have an operational vehicle this summer. We also would not have been able to afford the extensive (far beyond what we anticipated) repairs required on our rental house. As well, who knows where we’d have found the extra days required to labour over the house!
Truck repairs and rental house repairs stink – big time! But God knew they were coming, and He protected our resources (both financial and time) so that they’d be available when they were most needed.
We didn’t get all the camping weekends we had hoped for. However, because we saw the way our summer was playing out (ahem – housebound), we realized we would have the freedom and availability to host a Japanese exchange student in our home for 4 weeks. Megumi (16) became very special to our family, especially to her sister/roommate Abbey (10). What a cool experience for us and our kids!
The kids and I didn’t get to go to Manitoba…missing out on ten days of fellowship with my extended family. I’ll be honest, I’m still really bummed about this one. The photos cropping up on Facebook from yesterday’s wedding are bittersweet for me. In the original plan, I was working all day Wednesday, packing up the six of us Wednesday night, connecting up with my mom Thursday afternoon, and driving straight through to Winnipeg. On Wednesday night at about 9pm, I was struck with the stomach flu. It attacked me fiercely for about 16 hours, then left me weak and listless for another 18 or so. In the wee hours of Friday morning, Megan appeared at my bedside and spoke the dreaded words, “Mom, I think I’m gonna throw up.” Praise the Lord that her battle was less than half as long and painful as mine!
I can’t name many things I hate more than being sick to my stomach while being the sole care provider for four children. One thing that would probably be worse, though, is travelling under those conditions. Even worse, cancelling travel plans at the very last minute due to those conditions. But God knew these unpleasant conditions were coming, and He made sure we were right where we needed to be when they struck.
Other side benefits to being home… My kids won’t miss the first week of school; Malakai (almost 5) won’t miss the first week of Kindergarten. Shea (7) was able to get the cute, bob haircut she desperately wanted before school started. Braeden (14) was able to go with his Dad on the guys’ weekend. The other kids and I still have two days on our docket to do some household organizing before school starts. Everyone (except Braeden) should be well-rested for the first day of school. I decided to keep my days off next week, and will use the time for meal planning, shopping, and cooking with a friend. Just tryin’ to see the silver lining…
I believe that God could have prevented all the crappy stuff from happening. He could have kept our truck and our bodies healthy. He could have kept our renters from being such poor caretakers. He could have made life circumstances and finances work out so that we could have all that we wanted. But would I have seen His hand in that? Through this sucky, yucky, crummy summer of no, I’ve been able to see His hand of protection in new ways. And if I’m perfectly honest, I am learning some cold, hard lessons that I probably wouldn’t have if I’d gotten only “yes”es.
Have you had a circumstance, a day, or an entire season of hard lessons, but where you can see that God was providing soft blessings in the midst of it? Please share. I need to know I’m not the only one!
