Why would God…?

My oldest just moved the day after Christmas. With my own Navy moves under my belt, I knew that sometimes moving across an ocean is a lot easier than moving houses 20 minutes down the street. When you move across an ocean, you know you need help. When you move locally, it’s easy to think you can get by with some help from family. When I showed up at Maggie’s front door, I had to step back and wonder if we really could get the move done in a day. A lot had been done, but it was clear even more was left to do.

Being the oldest puts first-borns in a special status of being in charge. But being in charge doesn’t mean you get what you want or even know what you want.

Maggie has five brothers. When she was younger, every time I’d be expecting a new baby, she was frequently asked the question, “What do you want? A brother or a sister?” Of course, after the first two brothers showed up, Maggie would answer, ” A sister!” I never saw Maggie irritated or disappointed at the announcement of another new brother.

During one of my pregnancies, Maggie was old enough to come with me to my ultrasound appointment. The technician was chatting, asking a little bit of history. When the tech found out that Maggie was the only girl with four brothers, she asked if she could tell Maggie the news of the sex of the baby. Sure I said. The tech announced with anticipation, “It’s a boy!”. Maggie broke out in a laugh. The technician turned to me, surprised, saying, “I thought she would cry.”

As we walked out of the appointment, I turned to Maggie and said, “You know, lots of people are going to feel sad for you because you don’t have any sisters. It would be good to let them know why you aren’t sad. Can you think of a reason why God would give you so many brothers? “

Eight year old Maggie said, I can’t think of a reason now but I am sure I can think of one later.

Twenty-plus years later, it seemed that knee-deep in boxes, moving trucks, vans, and pickups was a great reason for God to give Maggie this many brothers. Moving!

We don’t always get to see answers to our why would God questions even decades later. I do know along the way we may not get what we want, assuming we even know what we really want.

We can always choose though how we respond to what we get. Maggie showed me how all those many years ago.

We can accept our reality and work with it.

We don’t need to become bitter when life doesn’t go as planned.

We can choose hope and not fear our future. No matter how uncertain.

The post script to this story is that God did give Maggie some sisters! They were exceedingly helpful at moving too!

As we move into 2021, don’t be in a hurry to leave 2020 behind. How you chose to respond to your year’s most difficult events will follow you into the new year in preparation for what is ahead. You choose!