There is always the dawn.

This past weekend was supposed to be a celebration of family, renewal, resurrection.......Easter.
We were set to meet up with my daughter, her boyfriend, and his parents for an Easter lunch in Durham after church. I had bought Katie a new dress to wear. It was adorable on her. We had a great happy day on Saturday and then I headed home to take care of dogs, clean a little, get ready for Sunday....Easter....the celebration of the Savior's victory over death. A celebration of new life.

Instead of having that perfect Easter day, we had a BIG detour. Katie called on Saturday afternoon to say her boyfriend of over a year had broken up with her. WHAT???? Not now, not the day before Easter. What was he thinking???? How dare he break my daughter's heart on a celebration holiday. I just bought her a dress! She was hysterical....I was outraged. She got in the car and drove home so I could hold her, console her, spend what should have been a happy day in our pajamas together, talking about mistakes, forgiveness, love, jealousy, and the paths of life we all have to walk. Easter Sunday was a long, sad day.

I spent a lot of the day being mad over the missed holiday, the missed Easter. Every holiday is so precious to me. Had the boyfriend been in front of me, I would have let him know what I thought he had robbed me of.......how he should have thought about the two families that were hurt by his poor timing. He had stolen a potential wonderful memory from all of us.

But today is a new day. Dawn brings new perspectives. Today, I realize that even though we missed Easter, I really gained some very significant time with my daughter. She still needs me. She needed her mother, and God and medicine, blessings and miracles had allowed me to be sitting in Trinity, NC, waiting for her to pull into the driveway. I had so much to say to her. I told her how God had created her for His glory and she is walking the path he had put her on. When she stumbles, veers off course, forgets, strays.....she always has the opportunity to get pack on the path, learn from her mistakes, know she is loved and forgiven, and go on with life.....precious, wonderful life. I was able to make her see that know matter what happens to her, the one true constant in life is the Lord. He will never leave her nor forsake her and nothing she does will seperate her from the love of Christ. Life is about standing on your own merits, trusting in God, walking your path.

So this morning I believe that if we had done our Easter lunch, it would have been one of many holidays for her that later on in life just blur together as a bunch of memories as times tend to.
Instead, I bet she will never forget that, when she needed me most at the age of 20, I was alive and well and waiting at home to be her mom. It is another affirmation that I am supposed to be here, now, at this moment, on this day. It is another confirmation of purpose. When God whispered in my ear last November that I'm wasn't done yet, here was one of the reasons why.

She has left now, on her way back to school, back to classes and back to find out if he will stick to his guns, not see her anymore. This morning I told her it was a new day, a new dawn, and know matter what I will always love her and God will always stand with her. I helped put her back on her path and watched her drive away. I realized as the little red car turned the corner that I was so grateful......so, so blessed to have been around for the botched Easter of 2008. Thanks be to God. Thank you Maha.

"The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day." Proverbs 4:18