The Stage Is Set

We continued to enjoy our kids growing up and doing their own thing. Our last child headed off to high school and we were so excited to be a part of his experience. He's had an amazingly positive experience being part of the stellar running program at our high school. We are blessed to have awesome coaches and for that we are thankful. God has blessed him. I say thank you every day for that.

Hebrews
13:2
"Do not forget to entertain strangers
for by doing so some people
have entertained angels
without knowing
it."

God is not going to throw something at you that is knowingly scary at least not when He's setting the stage for His plan.  You're going to recognize whatever God shows you as something normal, something you've seen before.  So when my sweet boy started dating  a sweet beautiful girl, I didn't think much of it. Perfectly normal thing to do for their age.   This beautiful girl was the daughter of one of running coaches. I mean, how great is that? I truly believe God put my child in the path of this girl because He had us chosen to help her. God knew years before that this would happen. I believe that in my heart. The summer was good. It was fun. Kids were great. We got to know this family a little bit. We got together a few times. As time went on, I noticed some things were odd. The kids were good. They had a fun summer.  I would visit with the girl's mom and as she told me bits and pieces of their life, there were things that just didn't add up. However, she was very convincing. I'd sit there and think, "oh wow. that's crazy, like how did you handle that?" Once I was home and thinking about these events that were told, I just thought, "no way. that just doesn't happen. People don't do that." The more I thought about these situations, I noticed my stomach wasn't right. Hmm, maybe it was just my turn to have IBS? I mean, my family members have had it at one time or another. Maybe it was because I ate too much salad? Looking back and after talking to my doctor who literally said, "Your gut knows first." 

 What I didn't realize that summer that is I had befriended a narcissist. I had no idea as I had never met one before. I  found certain conversations odd. Like I mentioned before, "who does that?" This mom was super charming, she was nice,  she invited us to lunch in their home. I wasn't supposed to see the evil yet. That would have scared me and I would have run. I would have run faster than I'd ever ran before. God needed me and my husband to stay put and not go anywhere. He knew what was about to happen and He needed us. 

Summer ended and school started again. We were so excited for another season of running and by this time our daughter was engaged and in her senior year in college. This was her year! So much to look forward to. So many amazing events our family was about to celebrate....


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