Restoration
by Susan
We stood at the end of our laneway and waved at the two rambunctious boys who had just boarded the school bus. It had been a rough morning and as much as I love them, I was relieved for their mom's sake, that they were now someone else's responsibility for the next seven hours or so. I breathed a quick prayer for them and for their teachers, and hoped their energy subsided a little by the time the bus deposited them in front of the doors of their school.
As the bus roared into gear and began to pull away, their mom and I, turned to go back into her house for an anticipated cup of coffee and an opportunity to debrief. Just then the hideous sound of a car's horn split the morning air. I turned back to the road to see someone waving furiously from inside their car. I had no idea what this was about and wasn't quite sure how to respond. Was it someone who knew us and was just saying hello, or was it some stranger alerting us to danger? I waved back, just in case, and then watched as the car pulled over to the shoulder and the person got out. She was still waving furiously and suddenly I realized who it was.
I had prayed for this friend and about our relationship just the day before. We had hit a snag in the road somewhere and our friendship had all but disintegrated several years earlier. It seemed hopeless, utterly hopeless. I had often prayed for God to bless her and her family - I didn't know what else to ask for considering the hopelessness of the situation, but this time I had asked for more. He had been working on my heart, gently kneaded out the hurt of separation, and I had asked for him to bridge the gap between us, and to somehow bring us together again. I was ready to try again - and I hoped she was too.
Well, I know that God is in the restoration business, but I didn't expect him to act that fast! I guess she saw me at the end of the laneway waving at the children on the bus and had the same feelings in her heart that I did in mine. She followed her impulse, took the risk, and stopped.
There at the end of the laneway we had an almost instant meeting of the hearts with only the briefest exchange of words. We quickly made plans to get together for coffee, but in my heart of hearts I know "it's over" - this divisiveness thing that we had allowed to come between us. I can feel it in the spirit, though I don't understand it in my mind yet. I am so looking forward to that coffee together and our celebrating this triumph of God's love! Oh, I'm sure there will still be some work to do together on our relationship, repairing the breaches and shoring up the walls, but once again, God has turned a hopeless situation in my life into hope. And I can't wait to see where he takes us from here...
We stood at the end of our laneway and waved at the two rambunctious boys who had just boarded the school bus. It had been a rough morning and as much as I love them, I was relieved for their mom's sake, that they were now someone else's responsibility for the next seven hours or so. I breathed a quick prayer for them and for their teachers, and hoped their energy subsided a little by the time the bus deposited them in front of the doors of their school.
As the bus roared into gear and began to pull away, their mom and I, turned to go back into her house for an anticipated cup of coffee and an opportunity to debrief. Just then the hideous sound of a car's horn split the morning air. I turned back to the road to see someone waving furiously from inside their car. I had no idea what this was about and wasn't quite sure how to respond. Was it someone who knew us and was just saying hello, or was it some stranger alerting us to danger? I waved back, just in case, and then watched as the car pulled over to the shoulder and the person got out. She was still waving furiously and suddenly I realized who it was.
I had prayed for this friend and about our relationship just the day before. We had hit a snag in the road somewhere and our friendship had all but disintegrated several years earlier. It seemed hopeless, utterly hopeless. I had often prayed for God to bless her and her family - I didn't know what else to ask for considering the hopelessness of the situation, but this time I had asked for more. He had been working on my heart, gently kneaded out the hurt of separation, and I had asked for him to bridge the gap between us, and to somehow bring us together again. I was ready to try again - and I hoped she was too.
Well, I know that God is in the restoration business, but I didn't expect him to act that fast! I guess she saw me at the end of the laneway waving at the children on the bus and had the same feelings in her heart that I did in mine. She followed her impulse, took the risk, and stopped.
There at the end of the laneway we had an almost instant meeting of the hearts with only the briefest exchange of words. We quickly made plans to get together for coffee, but in my heart of hearts I know "it's over" - this divisiveness thing that we had allowed to come between us. I can feel it in the spirit, though I don't understand it in my mind yet. I am so looking forward to that coffee together and our celebrating this triumph of God's love! Oh, I'm sure there will still be some work to do together on our relationship, repairing the breaches and shoring up the walls, but once again, God has turned a hopeless situation in my life into hope. And I can't wait to see where he takes us from here...
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