Redemption

Hi all!  We are fresh back from our summer Ohio trip.  We arrived back in Evans at 8:15 this morning.  Our trip home was much smoother than our trip up there last week.  Dave traveled to central Louisiana or CENLA, as the locals refer to it, for work on Monday and Tuesday.  Our plan was for him to fly to Atlanta and me to drive to Atlanta to meet Tuesday night.  We were then going to meet and drive together to Ohio.  Dave's flight was delayed twice and his arrival time was very late.  He was concerned the flight would get cancelled.  He decided to keep his rental car and head north.  He did research on rental car return locations that would be convenient to meet at.  He drove nine hours to Chattanooga and I drove four.  We met at the airport at 3 a.m. and took off for Ohio.  We arrived about noon on Wednesday.  Dave drove 12 hours straight and was in the car for 17!

We had things to do though!  We had to get to Ohio.  For one Eli had been there the week before visiting grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles.  We missed our little guy.  The other reason was that my sister was getting married!  Christy and I had things to do!  One of our favorite things we did was time at the salon getting a pedi/mani courtesy of our awesome dad!

There was one word that kept coming to my mind the entire time we were in Ohio.  The word is redemption.  Romans 8:28 is probably one of my favorite verses in the Bible.

Romans 8:28) And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.

Let me explain the connection between the events in Ohio, redemption, and Romans 8:28.  What
 I witnessed was a love story.  We all have our own personal love story, but the one I witnessed was something a bit different.  The characters in the story are very personal to me.  My sister is my best friend.  She's an inspiration and an encouragement.  She and I leaned heavily on each other as we navigated the unchartered waters of burying a parent too soon.  We are just very close.

Christy and Shane first met in the early days of high school in the mid-1980's.  They dated and even went to homecoming and prom together.  I remember Shane being at our house often.  He even was lucky enough to work for my dad bailing hay!  That is a hard job!!!  Christy went off to college and they drifted apart.  Life marched on.  Christy got married. Shane got married and had children.  Fast forward 20+ years.

Christy and Shane reunited after each of their marriages failed.  I won't go into details on that, but both of them went through incredible pain and stress.  Christy was moving on after her divorce and the death of our mother.  Shane was busy raising three amazing kids.  Their paths crossed and their destinies were changed forever.  Both of them have a faith that only comes through fire.  They both have a clear understanding of pain and continuing to do the right thing.  God knew back in 1987 that on July 20th 2013 they would be married.  How tremendous is that?!  God allowed the circle of life to return back to Shane and Christy's beginning.  Shane and Christy each love God and are living for Him.  They are truly seeking His plan for their marriage and the raising of children.  God has redeemed two lives in more than an eternal sense.  He has blessed Shane with a graceful wife who loves his three children as if they were her own.  Christy is a Proverbs 31 woman.  God has given Christy a husband who will protect her from the harsh world.  What I love about Shane is how he can make her laugh.  He truly gives her joy.  He will be the leader of the household.

Redemption is an awesome word.  He has made each of their lives new again.  They are whole.  How true is this for any of us?!  What we think is too big of a mess isn't too big for God.  He can take bad and make it good.  He can take brokenness and mend it.  When we obey God He can make something beautiful out of ugliness.  Obeying God is loving God.  Being called according to His purpose means that we are seeking God's plan over our own.  Christy and Shane are testaments to this way of thinking.

As our dad walked her down the aisle I had so many things going through my mind.  The first thing I thought of was that Christy looked so beautiful and my dad looked so handsome.  I then glanced at Shane.  His smile was HUGE.  As my dad passed her off to Shane I knew in my heart she was safe with him.  My dad took his seat and I couldn't help but think of our mom.  In my mind she should have been there, but God knows best I suppose.  I could literally see her sitting next to Dad.  She always loved Shane.  My mom told me several times that Christy would be the best mom.  It just didn't work out that way so we thought.  Mom would be so proud of the mom that Christy is now.

Someone at the wedding told me that she lives every day like its her last and she wants to make the most of every day.  While I would agree with the premise there is a problem with it.  The problem is when we live every day like its the last we can mow over others.  If  our only goal is to be happy than we risk running over others.  God doesn't tell us to be happy.  He tells us to be holy.  He wants us to be set apart.  Romans 8:28 tells how to live our life.  We are to obey God and live according to His
purpose.  When we do that He will make all things new for us.  He will redeem our situation for our good and His glory.  That is what I saw happen Saturday night and it put such joy in my heart.