Rebekah has always been very observant of people around her. Since toddlerhood, she would stare with childish frankness until caught. We quietly reminded her not to stare, or would turn her gaze away by gently turning her face.
One day, when she was three, she was enthralled with a beautiful toddler girl and an equally beautiful young mommy strolling by us in the grocery store.
“Look Mommy, she’s with her big sister,” she said, staring and pointing to the little girl.
“No, honey, that’s her mommy,” I replied.
Rebekah looked quite confused and looked from the other mom’s face to my own several times before protesting again.
“No, it’s her sister,” she insisted.
She recognized her older sister as closer to the age of the young mom than I was. Rebekah had been taken on many exciting excursions with her older sister, but always came home to an older mommy. She couldn’t imagine that some children have young mommies.
I explained how seven years went by between Jon’s birth (baby #5) and her birth, so I was now an older Mommy. I thought I had done a great job of explaining this great mystery to Rebekah and turned to finish loading the rest of my groceries onto the conveyor belt.
I hadn’t realized we had an audience until slight chuckles from the man ahead of me punctuated Rebekah’s final I’m-gunna-win-this-conversation statement.
“Mommy, I know it’s her big sister.”
We all marry and begin our new lives with great plans and expectations. They may be good plans, they may be spiritual plans, they may even be plans to serve the Lord.
But, Proverbs 16 teaches us to commit our plans to the Lord, and our plans will succeed. In the spiritual realm, success is being in the Lord’s will, physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. We can trudge through life as a falsely humble suffering martyr, or we can accept the Lord’s plans with a sincerely thankful and worshipful heart.
I never planned to be carrying a diaper bag at 38. We began our family young with great plans to be young when they moved out. The Lord had different plans. We learned that His plans are best. We would never change our life now, and the blessings of being older parents have been tremendous. Tiring, yes, but amazing.
We don’t plan miscarriages. We don’t plan children with health issues. We don’t plan to lose our children to any disease or accident.
We do plan how many we think we should have. We do plan what we think they should look like and how they should act. We do plan the spacing we want. We plan the gender we want.
Sometimes, our plans are the Lord’s plans. He was gracious enough to grant me the desire of my heart with the number of children I wanted. Since I was about 11 or 12, six was emblazoned in my heart.
But when His thoughts are not our thoughts and His plans are not our plans, we need to trust in His love, His mercy, His grace and His compassion. Even in our sorrow and grief, He is there, and His plans are still FOR US and not AGAINST US.
As far as the Lord’s plan to allow me to go through cancer from the time Rebekah was 2, and never allow her to know a well Mommy? This is for MY peace, MY future and MY hope.
What joy Rebekah Joy brought us all through times of darkness and sorrow. She gave us all reason to continue on in laughter and peace, when we purposed to not taint her childhood with fear and lack of faith.
His plan to make me one of the oldest moms at my daughter Rebekah’s graduation in 11 years? It is for MY peace, MY future and MY hope.
What better future than to grow old with one child still at home? I cherish the thought of her as my company in my old age.
Have you ever had parenting plans that didn’t match up with the Lord’s? Have you surrendered your will and your heart? Can you accept these plans for peace and hope in your life?
The prophet continues with precious words:
Sounds like a great plan,
and a great promise,
for this old Momma!
OM, I was 22 and Scott was 23 when we had Jana. We thought we were ancient at the time, especially after each being on our own since 18 and each putting ourselves through college. Thanks for the compliments, everyone!
Yeah, Rebekah will be the delight of your golden years–as I am sure she already is. I Can hardly imagine how young both you and Scott must have been when you got started 18? 19? Wow! And you both still look fabulous.
Check out the funky hairdo on the new Mommy! I laughed hysterically. But I must admit you looked absolutely gorgeous at the hospital with Bekka. You make me so jealous! Love you!!
Hi Mindy,I too was an older mother, but never a young one. I was 31 when my daughter was born. To have me so much older than the parents of her friends disconcerted her when she reached ten or so. Eventually she forgave me!The nice part of God's plan for me was I enjoyed my kids way more as an older mom than most of the younger ones seemed to.
Loved the post. I'll have to remember that trick if the Lord blesses us with another one. 🙂
Ruby, thank you for the lovely compliment.The same confusion happened to us, too! Once Jana and her husband, before they had kids even, were confused to be the parents of the younger teens. OUCH!
Lovely post, Mindy!You look sooo gorgeous both as a very young and a more mature mother.The opposite can happen of course. My older duaghter was sometimes asked as a fairly mature 15/16 year old whether she was the mother of her younger siblings. LOL! Now she is 22 and has two boys of her own.
Dear Mindy,What a beautiful heartfelt post. It is such a comfort to know that the God that we know is a good God and has good plans, so no matter what happens throughout life, He is always there will His ever amazing peace and comfort.xxx