hugs from God

this may seem like an odd title, but there are many times i have felt like God is hugging me. they come in small waves or doses. you can feel them if you try. for me, they are there when i know WITHOUT A DOUBT that His hand was in something, and he chose to show it to me. let me give you a better example (and please bear with the backstory!)

when my oldest was about to start kindergarten, he was enrolled in a local christian school. three weeks before school started i found out they were not actually going to put him in kindergarten, but rather something called Jr. Kindergarten (or kindergarten purgatory - if you were the mom of the child hearing this). i was completely taken aback. he was MORE than ready. he was SO SMART. he had already completed pre-k, and it was TIME for kindergarten. after several phone calls and "mom the advocate" conversations (where there were few - if any - answers/reasons), i settled in and decided to trust God (wasn't that nice of me?).

in my oh-so-humble opinion, that year spent in kindergarten purgatory was the.best. year he will ever have in school. why? because his teacher was touched by God. i'm serious. a true child whisperer. i absolutely cannot say enough good things about her. not only was she the most amazing teacher, but she had a degree in child psychology and was also a child counselor. it showed. she was so good for not only my child, but me that i made sure my next child got to experience purgatory too! i seriously have the utmost love and respect for her and what she did for my little family of three who was reeling from divorce and loss and everything nasty that comes with that!

so back to hugs... tuesday, i'm back at target (no, that is not a coincidence) and i happen to bump into this exact teacher! i have not seen her in at least two years, so we begin small talking and i tell her our family's news. then she says, "my new job is counseling newly adopted children through trauma! as long as you live in the county its free!" i almost started bawling right there in target. you guys, i had been thinking a lot after our class last thursday about the counseling these kids are gonna need, and how dangerous child counseling can be if the right person isn't doing it. i even thought about trying to look up this particular person and see if she was taking new clients, since she is someone who not only knows our story, but whom i trust completely to do what is best for the child. i know she prays for these kids.

i walked away from her, basking in the hug. as i said last week, God's got this. and he is showing me little by little that His plan is FAR better than mine could EVER be.