Careful What You Ask For

I have vented before about my frustration with the speed at which my daughter’s relationship is progressing or not progressing with her not boyfriend, Matt. She has been so happy, and she deserves to be. Her brother, her dad and I have been encouraging her to make the first move in a romantic direction, knowing full well that this involves great risk for her in her recently-divorced status. She did love her husband. The fact that the marriage did not work wounded her deeply.

In Bible study this morning, we talked about this very issue, the need for control. What, you say? How would indicating more than a friendly interest be wanting control? Well, because theoretically, if the young man had that kind of interest, he would already have said something although we all know there are plenty of young men out there who are too shy, for whatever reason, to make the first move.

A lady in my Bible study said this about control: “I want God to control my life. I pray about it. My problem is patience. The answer takes too long, so I pray about it and do it anyway.”

I prayed all morning that God would protect my daughter, and this evening I found out why. She called and told me that she had asked Matt out on a date.

“A romantic date?” he said.

“Well, yeah…,” said the daughter.

“Can I have some time to consider the implications?” he said.

My daughter wanted to know what that meant. He didn’t run screaming. Maybe he had considered the possibility before. I told her I didn’t know. I have given up knowing what men think. I can figure it out after the fact, but during….not so much.

I know God will protect my daughter. I don’t want her hurt. Do you hear that, Matt? And God? I want to trust you that whatever happens is for the best, but I might need some help here.