Lessons on the Bayou

We are so blessed to live on a little bayou while we are home in the States. Our coffee mornings are spent looking out and seeing the sun reflecting on the water. It is such a peaceful place to spend our home assignment.

So the other evening after the sun had already set, Mike suggested we go for a quick paddle and enjoy the stillness of the bayou. There were osprey flying and a big blue heron on the shore. For me, when I am on the water, it can seem like everything is right in the world. The water really has that calming effect on me.

However this particular evening I was introspective because a message had come in concerning a family that had been uprooted from their home. As I prayed for this family, I thought about the many times over the years we have been in similar situations, uprooted and in transition. Even though we are in our home country now, in many ways it seems like we are uprooted. It is sometimes hard to feel settled in transition.

As I got farther down the bayou, I wondered why our boys seem to handle change so well. I am often asked, “How are the boys handling the change back to the States?” I always think they do far better than Mike and me. I know they probably don’t verbalize every emotion or thought, but I know them well. I know when they are stressed, and we talk a lot about how they are handling situations. The hardest time of transition was when they were little and we had to tackle jet lag vs. sleeping schedules.

Around the bend of the bayou, I began to think that, thanks to God, our family is their anchor of stability. They never have to question whether they will be fed, cared for, or loved. They never question their parents’ love for each other or their commitment to one another. Because they have a track record they depend on, they trust and rest in that. That kind of stability doesn’t need a geographical location. We can be anywhere at any time under most circumstances as long as we are together.

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It was almost dark now, and the Lord continued to direct my thoughts. “Ought not it be even more so with us and our Heavenly Father?”

Do you ever notice when you begin to analyze your children’s behavior you end up with a lesson meant for you? We have a perfect Father, Provider, Protector, and Giver of every breath who cares for us and directs our steps. He loves us and promises to work out our transitions and our unsettledness and our uprootedness for our good. So if there are others out there that are in the middle of that type of scenario today, lets strive together to depend on our good and gracious God for all the details of our lives. Let’s rest in the Lord and enjoy the peace He offers.