Under Construction
For Christmas 2023, I gave my husband and son tickets to LSU's 2024 football season opener in Las Vegas.
They'd have to wait nine months to enjoy their presents, but patience makes the heart grow fonder, or something like that.
My son’s gift contained two tickets. I told him the second ticket was for my future daughter-in-law.
He looked at me like I was concussed.
That was fair.
After all, he wasn't dating anyone seriously.
“Do you think I'm going to meet the girl of my dreams in nine months?”
“Entire humans are completely formed in nine months! Totally possible!”
The truth is, I'd been praying for her long before I bought those tickets on August 21, 2023.
But the purchase kicked my prayers into overdrive.
I just knew he'd meet her.
I felt it.
And I'm certainly not an unreasonable person.
God had thirteen months from the day I bought those tickets to put her in my son's path.
Thirteen! That's way more than nine, right?
He can do it if He wants to.
Of course, I had a list.
Let him admire and respect her enough to put her on a pedestal.
Let him look at her like he's seeing fireworks for the very first time.
Wait.
That isn't anything about her.
That's all about him.
And maybe that was the point.
I wasn't looking for the perfect daughter-in-law.
I wanted my son to find someone he would honor.
Someone whose happiness would matter to him as much as his own.
Someone he could trust with that big, beautiful heart he's kept hidden from almost everyone.
Naturally, I had a few suggestions for God.
Lord, if You and I are going to construct this perfect woman, let's get busy.
First, let her know You.
Let her love her family.
Let her be kind but strong enough to stand her ground.
Let her have lived enough life to know what matters.
Let her hard lessons make her wise.
Let her love children.
Let her find joy in Your creations, whether lying on a beach, standing mountainside, or simply walking on a beautiful day.
Oh, and Lord, could she love us, too?
Or at least like us a lot?
Let her show up for others.
And above all, let her show up for You.
That would be the woman of my dreams.
I mean, the woman of my son’s dreams.
And wouldn't you know it?
Before our Vegas trip, along came Madeline.
They started dating.
And then, one day, my son called to say he was coming home to talk.
He always shares big news in person.
Good or bad, he wants to be in front of me.
So I knew something important was coming.
He sat across from me at my kitchen table, and my heart raced as he seemed to take a fortnight to get to the point.
Finally…
“Mom, I think she's the one.”
I may have experienced a tiny blackout.
Then the tears came.
The gratitude was too much for any one human to hold.
Thank You, God.
It was all I could think.
I hugged him, overwhelmed by the thought that the girl I'd been praying for was no longer someone in his future.
She was here.
God had actually met my thirteen-month deadline.
As I've come to know Madeline, I've recognized so many of the qualities I'd whispered to God in those construction plans. I mean, prayers.
Her kindness. Her backbone. Her faith. Her love of family.
She's graceful. And tough. And lovely.
But the greatest answer to my prayers isn't simply who Madeline is.
It's how my son loves his future wife.
With his entire heart.
And oh, the way he looks at her.
Like he's seeing fireworks for the very first time.
I'd spent years telling God what kind of woman I thought my son needed.
As if He didn't already know.
As if He hadn't known her all along.
Comments