God's perfect timing

Shortly after my mother departed this life yesterday afternoon, Z looked at me and told me to look at the date... June 25th.

June 25th, 2011

Had our daughter been carried anywhere near to term, her first birthday party would have been yesterday. June 25th was her original due date, and the fact that it fell on a Saturday would have made that day the day for the party had she been born anytime within a week or so of that date. But God, in His perfect timing and in His perfect knowing, did not allow that to happen. My little lady was born nearly a month early. The days that followed her birth were the most frightened and stressed out days of my life. Her stay in the Intensive Care Nursery was nearly unbearable. At the time, I struggled with understanding why it was that God was putting me through such a time. I know why now...

Because God loves us, and because He alone knows what each day will hold, my mom was able to see her granddaughter turn 1. She was able to give us an awesome memory, and a tribute to her strength and love of family. Mom, with the assistance of Dad, and her doctor (and unknown by the nursing staff) left the hospital to be at this birthday party. They said they just felt strongly that she needed to be there. She got to hold this youngest grandchild on her first birthday, and watch her eat cake. It would not have been this way, without the pain and fear of an early birthday.

None of this was coincidence, or happenstance... it was God's perfect timing

I hope that today, as we head to churches, or golf courses, or lakes, or whatever it is that you do... you'll think twice about the love God has for you, and the importance of Christ in your life.