An Unexpected Gift

“Sheesh! This tea is hot.”  I chuckled as I listened to the bright young lady sitting happily at my kitchen counter. Was this the same girl I met all those years ago in a little homeschool co-op class? It is hard to believe. How far she has come and how strong she has grown.

There are times God brings people into our lives in ways we never would imagine. I never knew when I walked into that class that a friendship would be formed that would last a lifetime. I still remember that little girl, pigtails swinging, tomboy that she was, always joking, always bringing laughs, and always working hard, very hard. Her big blue eyes were full of laughter and mischief and I didn’t quite know what to expect.

Imagine my surprise, when, after taking a teaching job at the local Christian school, who should walk into my classroom, but my little friend. We were both new to the system, both a little unsure, but we walked the path together, each learning what was needed in this new world. 

And when I stepped into administration, she remained, my biggest cheerleader. After all, we had come a long way from that little co-op. High school was coming and the little Christian school ended at eighth grade. Surely, we could take the next step and we did. We added a high school and there she was, dressed and ready the first day, full of nerves and excitement and depending on God every day of class. The work was hard but she was a hard worker, studies never being easy for her. She learned the value of perseverance, asking for help from her teachers and studying diligently.

We’ve both stepped into another stage now, she, studying online, while I work to promote classical Christian education. But we are still together. We are doing it again. We are walking new paths together.  When I am far across the country and she is studying at home, we are praying for each other and never forgetting our journey.

She jokes about me and my fondness for ‘taking tea’ and gives me a hard time for being what she calls ‘British’. Somehow this little person has crept into not only my life, but the life of our family. She’s doing it again. That little girl with the braids is still making lives better. She writes us notes and cheers our hearts and fills the lives of our grandchildren. She kids us about being our seventh child and our lives would be too quiet without her.

Who would have guessed, all those years ago? Who would have known the paths our lives would follow? The word serendipitous means an unexpected pleasure. Some of us would call that a blessing. God is the Father of all blessings. And every time I sit at my desk and look at the little teapot, her gift to me, I think of my blessing, my gift, this girl, unexpected  and a very great pleasure.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is of God and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning. James 1:17