The Unexpected Turn

This past week, I drove a U-haul truck to Florida with my son's cat sitting beside me in the cab.  It took two days of bouncing up and down on the truck seat, navigating constant lane closures (mainly in Louisiana, bless), and many stops at Buc-ees to make it there. 

Unlike my other cat, who screams constantly when placed in a vehicle, this cat rode placidly along for the nearly twenty-hour journey to be with her boy.  

My youngest boy moved to Florida to be with his mom, so I was driving the truck with the cat to move everything, including the cat, who has been my son's constant companion for many years.    

The day after I arrived, I had a full-circle moment when I took my boy to basketball tryouts at his new school, which happened to be the same school my oldest attended from 8th grade to his Junior year. 

I was sitting in the gymnasium watching him play when I realized that sixteen years earlier, I had sat in that same gym watching my oldest do the same thing.  Heck, even the coach was the same.  

My youngest plays with the same intensity as his older brother, and my dad's heart swelled with pride as I watched him dominate on the court.  He would go on to make the team, which made the whole family proud.  

On the ride back to the house, my son and I talked about his new school and how he'd be starting classes there the next day. He was excited and chattered away about how he hoped for a fresh new start and how, even though he wasn't "on his game," he still felt he did well in the tryout. 

If you had asked me if I would ever find myself sitting in that gymnasium again sixteen years after I did that first time, I would have laughed.  It was too improbable for me to fathom, yet that's exactly what happened. 

As I was flying back to Austin, I sat on the airplane contemplating how sometimes life can be so funny.  The things we never imagined can be what we find ourselves doing or experiencing with no small amount of joy. 

Sure, it was all a bittersweet moment for me, but the most important thing was that my son was happy, excited about the future, and doing what he wanted.  

For the first time in a long time, I felt peace wash over me, and I knew that even though the circumstances were complicated, my son knew his parents loved him and supported him no matter how complicated things got. 

In a way, this is how our relationship with God goes sometimes.  Even though we don't often know why we go through challenges and trials, we sometimes glimpse resurrection and restoration in the midst of them.  

If we open our minds and hearts, we will discover that God's love and support have remained steadfast no matter what is happening around us.  

At the end of this experience, I found that my most appropriate and heartfelt response was to say "Thank you" to God for allowing me to see just how intricate and unexpected the path I'd been on was.  

Perhaps you have wondered why things have not worked out as planned in your own life.  Maybe you have even grown despondent about your circumstances and are questioning your path. 

While I can't offer any assurance that you will find peace for now, I know that if you are patient and open to what comes next, there may be signs of resurrection ahead.  

May we all know this to be true, and may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all, now and forever. Amen.