Michele Laccabue, GFC Carrollwood

One of the benefits of aging is the privilege to look back and reflect on the goodness of God’s hand working through the various seasons of our lives.  When in the thick of hard and confusing times, it can be difficult to see the good in it all.  Whether the season is short-lived or long-lasting, subtle, or dramatic, I have learned to turn to God and lean heavily on faith in Him. God promises to go before us, to walk through with us, and to straighten out the path.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight”.

Recently, our loving God revealed the overwhelming goodness of His plan that has been in the making for many years.  You see, 18 years ago, God led our family down the path of homeschooling our youngest son.  In my mind, it was a short-term agreement (ha-ha!).  I was reluctant and a tad bit scared as this type of schooling was foreign to me.  Yet, with God on my side, I leaned in, trusted, and faithfully persevered forward.  It was only Kindergarten.  I can do this!  And, we did have a great year!

It became clear this would be a longer commitment than I originally planned as we discovered our little guy was a struggling reader.  My first “ah-ha” moment of why God had set us on this path. With vision therapy, lots of one-on-one with mom, and years of hard work, we made amazing progress.  BUT, this momma was growing fearful of what his future looked like. Would he be a successful high school student? Would he conquer the SAT and go to college?

In this epic chapter of my life story, God continually straightened out the crooked path of worry I was creating.  He guided me to my first women’s small group filled with moms a few steps ahead of me on the journey.  They encouraged, inspired, and cheered me on.  They taught me to read my Bible and to hear from God on a personal level.  My husband soon came to faith and our little family began thriving one step at a time.

Fast forward and our son is now 22 and our awesome God has blown our minds with His faithfulness!  Can I brag a little?  Our God not only guided our boy to conquer traditional high school graduating with honors, but he also proceeded to college and graduated cum laude! Wow, God!

All our stories are unique and challenging and beautiful. I pray that telling you a piece of mine gives you an extra dose of hope today.  Girlfriend, keep leaning in and trusting our Heavenly Father with the details of whatever you are walking through. He is for you, with you, and straightening out your crooked path of worry. He will accomplish good as His plans work through the various bumps and turns of life.  And He will do MORE than you can ever imagine.  His ways are higher.  Dream BIG! Pray continually.  This is the day the LORD has made, rejoice and be glad in it!