As I walked the Halloween aisles of Target with Kylie and all the other last minute shoppers the night before the big day, I have to admit I was hoping my daughter would change her mind on what she wanted as a costume. We passed a few straggling dress up sets and masks most kids would love, but she had her mind set on something unique. She wanted to be Medusa. I can tell you with certainty, there were no Medusa masks or head-dresses full of snakes to be found that late in the shopping game, if they had ever carried them at all. I tried to talk her into other costume ideas, but her mind was set. She was not going to be moved. If you know my girl, you know this persistent determination is a trait of hers – she can dig in her heels and hold her ground like… well, me! I get it. The battle at that moment wasn’t worth fighting and in my heart of hearts I wanted to see her step out the door on Halloween in something she felt great in. I wanted her to be who she wanted to be — which meant, I was going to have to get my creative last minute costume skills on and get to work quick!
As we left Target we headed down to the dollar store where I prayed we’d find snakes I could sew or stitch into a wig we had at home. I found two kinds of snakes. We bought six of them, and her and dad and I set out from there to figure out exactly how best to get the slippery little creatures to stay in the thick mop of black hair. I wanted to sew them in with thread, but I quickly found it wouldn’t be strong enough to hold them all day, as she was wearing her costume for school too. David went the guy route; he thought zip-ties would do the trick. If you’ve read some of my older blogs or heard me share our fix it stories, you know he has a special love of zip ties. They’ve held our car bumper on for a long road trip after a hazard knocked it half way off. Surely they could hold snakes in hair. He was right. We went with the black zip ties. And I have to give him props– he helped with the wig by making sure those snakes would stay in place, just right for our girl.
Meanwhile, I set out to find the right dress for Medusa in our house. My first thought was an old dress up dress of Kylie’s – a blue Cinderella dress I could cut up to look like something from the time of Greek Mythology. Let’s just say, she was near tears. It was hideous. We threw it away.
I had plenty of opportunities to assure Kylie along the way, ” Don’t worry, Babe! Trust us. It’s all coming together.” A tee of mine, a scarf tied just so, a gold undershirt with sequins, some special gladiator sandals and a head full of black hair with snakes, and she was set. But as it all unfolded it was just bits and pieces that looked incomplete, in and of themselves. She was worried in those middle moments that her costume wouldn’t be right.
It reminded me of a time David and I walked down the halls of our church recently and saw the remodel going on around us. The walls were painted a new, fresh color and in contrast to the current carpet, in our opinion, it was hideous. But I know the designer, and I know she’s gifted at what she does and I’ve never seen her miss on wall color or any look she’s had a hand in. As we talked I remember saying this may not all look right at this moment, but I know once the carpet is changed out and the trim put on all of it would look fabulous. We are several weeks down the road now and the carpets in and guess what — it does look fabulous.
There are times in all of our lives when will go through a time of remodeling – a time when God strips away old thoughts and habits and replaces them with His truths and principles. There are times when God is shaping us for the next season of what he has for us. There are times we are taking steps toward a God promise and we can’t see how our current circumstances are going to work toward that end. In my life, I’ve had lots of these moments where I’ve wondered what God was up to and thought, this is not what I expected, how is all of this going to come together?
In those moments when our faith in God wavers, we can remind ourselves He finishes what he begins, as it says in Philippians 1:6,
“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
When we can’t see how all the pieces are going to come together, we need to fix our eyes on God and trust in Him. We need to be patient with him and ourselves knowing we are a work in progress. And we can confidently look toward the day when everything will come together knowing as we see it all from that perspective we will say, “Wow, look what God did. Look how he brought everything together in just the right way, to make something beautiful.”
Let’s pray — Father God, I trust you. I can’t always see or understand what you are doing. I don’t always know how the pieces are going to come together, but I know you, the master designer, have never missed on anything you’ve had a hand in. You know my end from my beginning. You know the steps I need to take along the way to get there. I yield to your preparation process. As you strip away, reshape, dress and mold me and work in those around me, help me to keep my eyes on you in bold expectation, knowing you who promise are faithful to complete all that you began and in the end, it’s all going to come together to glorify you. In Jesus name, Amen.
P.S. If you are wondering how Kylie’s costume turned out – let’s just say she was happy.
Filed under: A Mother's Heart, Devo's
