Today I interrupt whatever I had originally planned to say, to make an announcement.
Well, actually to share a story that is an answer to countless prayers and one I hope will encourage you to keep on believing God to open doors and put you in the right place at the right time.
Spoiler alert: this story involves my youngest who I’ll call Carpenter.
Carpenter used to live with us and install custom cabinets in fancy houses all along the front range in Colorado. But his dream was always to build furniture, especially if he could do it at a place like Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri where our family vacations every year.
In December 2024, he got brave and emailed the master craftsman at the furniture shop in SDC asking to be considered if they ever had an apprenticeship open up. They created a position for him and Carpenter moved to Branson in April 2025.
The youngest leaving the nest was a little bittersweet. I was going to MISS him and yet how could possibly be sad when he was getting to live his dream?
My biggest prayer at the time had been that he would get plugged into a local church and make solid friendships.
God answered that prayer and over the next weeks and months I often heard about how he’d done such-and-such with “a friend” or “friends.”
Wednesday night young adult group. Bonfires near a coffee shop other nights in the week. A pool party. A demolition derby at the county fair. A rodeo.
All with a consistent group of core friends. (Very few names were ever mentioned and I knew it was deliberate to keep other overly curious family members from reading into things if he mentioned a girl in passing. Too much pressure!!)
Fast forward and we see him in July. Then again in October. And December…where we visit his church with him and “a friend” ends up sitting next to him.
Turns out, he’s had a growing crush on this particular member of the the friend group and the more he prays about it, the more places he starts to run into her.
So the moment his nosy family is out of town and back in Colorado, he makes his move and asks her out on a real date. To which she apparently said something like “it’s about time!” (Okay, maybe that admission came later, but she thought it.)
Cuz she’d had a crush on him too! Had organized that earlier pool party hoping to get to know him better…only to be discouraged when he’d showed up with a different girl. (Another of the friend group who lived not far from Carpenter and had suggested they car pool…)
Signals had been crossed in the past, but it led to a deeper friendship along the way. But once Carpenter made his move, love was soon to follow.
Can you guess where I’m going with this yet? :-)
Along the way–and actually starting back when Carpenter was still in high school–I’d been praying for my shy, serious, observant, quiet son to find just the right girl. One to bring him out of his shell but one also willing to build a simple life. One who loved Jesus in both word and deed.
Fast forward again to April and I get a Birthday gift trip from my parents to go to Branson. And the timing worked out perfectly because Carpenter had just bought his first house and we were there to help him settle in.
And while there got to meet the girl. Who is without a doubt a keeper! And everything I’d prayed for my son.
Then a few weeks ago, they celebrated six months of officially dating. (With about six months of solid friendship before that.)
A couple days later, Carpenter is sneaky and connects with her parents. Then plans a surprise by the lake.
And this happens…
Which means there’s wedding plans in the making and another daughter-in-law to get to know.
And more cool stories to share. But this is already long enough so you’ll have to wait until next time.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this thought: whatever you’re praying for, God is at work behind the scenes in ways you can hardly imagine. Trust His timing and embrace the joy when prayers are answered.
