My Math vs. God's Plan

Sometimes I do this little timeline where I figure out how old Archer will be when Shelly is... or when Eli is... Or how many years till (think of some major milestone here).

The math formula goes something like this. Archer is in third grade, Shelly's in kindergarten. Eli is two. When Archer goes to a new school at sixth grade, Shelly will be in third grade, and that's when Eli will start 4K. Elijah will be in elementary school till the 2021-2022 school year is over. (Is your head spinning yet? Mine is.) Suddenly, that seems like a really long time to have kids at the neighborhood school. We'll be at North Park for another nine years (and then Archer will be 18!?!?!).

Except. Who are we to say where we'll be nine years from now?

We recently received a letter that told us Shelly has been accepted into a different school. After only one year at North Park, she's moving on. That letter stopped me in my tracks, the path of figuring out the timeline for our lives, for every year and month and day of where we'll be. How can I possibly know where we'll be eight years from now? With just one simple letter, one day, the entire timeline/plan/map changed.

Archer and Shelly walk to and from the bus stop together, they're supposed to be watching out for each other and I've told them a hundred times, "Stay together," because its safer that way. They go out the door together sometimes laughing and chatting. Sometimes crabby and bickering. And they come home that way too. But together. And now that its ended, now that they won't be walking to and from the bus with each other, I find myself nostalgic. I realize that their daily routine is something I treasure, the idea that they're watching out for each other. And now its over, something I thought we'd have for another couple of years, it turns out it was just once, just this year.

We've talked with the kids about meeting new friends, getting ready for changes whether its a new classroom or a whole new school. And I think Shelly is taking it pretty well. I'm trying not to dwell on the things we're giving up because I know that God has a bigger plan than I can even imagine. Before that letter came to us, I prayed that the Lord would let all of the kids (not just my kids) end up in the place they most needed to be. And if someone else needed that spot at that other school, I'd be disappointed. But I prayed that the Lord would provide the very best for each child in His care. And it turns out that next year, that means Archer and Shelly in different places, but in the place that the Lord has made ready for each of them.

So how about that road map, that timeline for where we'll be eight years from now? Only God knows, but for now let's just see what happens in the next year...