God Gives Us What We Need When We Need It

While I share the majority of the same fears as my daughter, tonight I will talk about how we think we need one thing, but God knows we need another.

You see, I am an introvert. Many of you will disagree with this, but it is true. Many of you will describe me as outgoing, out spoken, and always joins in and I am, but I'm not.  It take a lot of energy for me to be outgoing and to join it on the activities. Don't get me wrong, I do love people and enjoying time doing things with others, but I need periodic quiet time to regroup. This is not always easy to come by.

Given the way my year has gone and all the added responsibilities, plus the hectic pace, I have desperately needed some quiet time to just be alone to reflect and just be with God. The beach is my main "go to" place.

I thought our trip to SASA (South Atlantic Shrine Association) conference would be my chance to have to quiet time on the beach. While I did get some time, I found I also wanted to be with our Shrine family. This surprised me greatly. I truly thought I would just spend most of my time alone with little interaction with the others. I had even asked for forgiveness in advance. The ones I spoke with had previously said they understood.

Not only did I spend time with our family, but I was able to step out of the norm and spend time getting to know some of our Shrine family that I hadn't spent much time with before this trip. This was another fear faced; I am usually quiet and sometimes nervous around people I don't really know well. I know, I know, this is hard for a lot of you to believe about me, but it's true.

I found myself to be the most relaxed on this trip than any other trip I have gone on in all these years (family trips excluded) and I have been on a lot of trips between my work and Robert's.  I was so at ease with our Shrine family. I, as well as others, came and went as we wanted. Everyone was so great. I had so much fun with so many people. It was a good feeling to be with our Shrine family. They were just what God ordered!

I look back and realize that we were pulled to Jamil after Bradley got home from having his feeding tube inserted, after dad died, on Fridays after work, and so many other times. Hmmmmm. Interesting that I hadn't realized this before now.

I still need some time to wrap my head around this year, but, for now, this will wait. God gave me the family time I needed. He made me see they are my family and I love being with them. He even increased the size of my immediate Shrine family.

God gives us what we need when we need it. We may think we need one thing, but God knows what we really need.

I thank God for the blessing of our Shrine family and the wonderful trip He blessed us with.