Recognizing God’s Plan.

I am a firm believer that God has a plan for each of our lives. I think most people at some point in their life have become frustrated because they could not see what God’s plan for them was. Whenever I went through trying times and could not seem to find my identity, I always became frustrated because I thought I should know what God had planned for me. After years of searching, I realized I was looking for His plan in all the wrong places.

Just 4 months after my divorce, my former wife was killed in a car accident. I was so overwhelmed with the responsibility of raising three young children on my own, that I did not realize God was showing me that His plan had already been working in my life.

When my ex wife and I divorced, we agreed to equal share in custody of our children. It was a 50/50 arrangement where she had the kids one week and I had them the next. I was not happy only seeing my kids every other week, but it was the best I could hope for given the circumstances. I was going to make the best of it.

I missed the kids terribly when they were at their mothers, and I was thrilled when they came home with me. It stayed that way for the first several weeks, but then reality set in and I became aware of how tough single parenting is, even if for a week at a time.

When Tara passed away and I became a full-time single parent, I realized that God had been preparing me as best He could.  Not many people become single parents having had a little practice beforehand.  Over that four month period after the divorce, God gave me the opportunity to experience single parenting, even if only every other week.  As difficult as the experience became after Tara died, I truly feel it would have been much more difficult had I not had that time to adjust to life as a single parent.

While our circumstances will never be ideal, I feel blessed to have seen God’s plan for me in action.

Sometimes you have to look deeper to see what God has planned for you.  It’s easy to find God’s hand in work when things are going great.  Try looking for it when you need it the most.

Happy Friday!