To be continued...

We love a good story don't we? I know I do. But what about when the story takes a sudden twist? You think the plot is moving in a certain direction and then all of the sudden the floor falls out of the story, and you realize you are not at the end of the book, there is a sudden cliffhanger, you could not see coming. That is where I feel like I am today...

Last Wednesday morning I got up to go to the restroom at 2:40 a.m. (hang with me people... there is a point) At 2:51 a.m. I heard the soft noise indicating a Facebook message go to Chad's Phone & then immediately following to mine. I instantly knew it was Lynn.

Lynn is a foster daughter that lived with us for a few months in 2010 and then she came again in 2011/12 and we pursued adoption with her. It didn't happen. We didn't adopt, and she went back into the system where she bounced around for the next several years. Last fall she turned 18 and went into the states transition program as an adult. We have had sporadic contact over the past 4 years. July of this year (2015) she contacted us to let us know she was pregnant. She hinted that she needed help, but never came right out and asked for it. October 6th, Chad & I went down to visit her and ask her if she wanted to move in with us. She told us that her living arrangement was abusive, and we encouraged her all the more to move. She said she would, but she wanted to visit first. Chad made her promise that if her Ex/roommate became abusive that she would call us...

So back to Wednesday morning October 14th... I grabbed my phone, it was Lynn. She asked us to come get her right now. Chad was in the car in 10 minutes, driving toward her, a 2 1/2 hour drive at normal speeds. We were Facebooking with her as he drove. She said, "I need to be out of here by the time my Ex gets back." Chad remembered a SpringHill volunteer who he had just "happened" to talk to about Lynn the week before. He lived 15 minutes from where Lynn lived. Chad texted him, and when he got a quick response He called the volunteer. The volunteer drove to get Lynn. As he pulled up and she hopped into the car they saw Lynn's Ex coming around the corner he had picked her up just in time.

My heart was elated that morning, my prodigal daughter was coming home! We would keep her safe we would help her raise her baby! What a beautiful ending to our pain filled road with our sweet, sweet Lynn. She came in and hugged us all, she cried, it was beautiful!

As she slept in the guest bed Chad said to me, "She wants to go back. She says she needs to get back to her job, and that she is only here for a few days." My joy was only dampened slightly. This was God's story! She was gonna stay. I just knew it!

Chad took her back on Friday so she could work through the weekend. She would move in for good on Monday! I did not love that she was going back, staying in the same apartment, putting both of them at risk, but she is an adult, and she promised she would be back.

Sunday night I texted to see how everything was going. She said that her Ex said that they were moving out. Her ex was the reason she needed to leave, so if they were moving out, she might just stay. As I went to bed, I clung to hope, this is God's story. She will come home.

Monday morning my fears were confirmed. There were calls from Lynn's social worker, texts from Lynn, calls to Chad, all while trying to remain business like at work. Lynn was not coming.

As I continued working I began to try to process... "Why? Why did she come? Get all our hopes up? What was this whole thing about? I wanted to rescue her from this life she was stuck in. The Prodigal Son did not go back into the world after feeling the love of the Father!?!

And then my thoughts turned... The story of the prodigal son is based on us, Our forgiving God and our rebellious hearts. Don't we say we want to change run to his grace, accept the party and then turn and say, "No. My sin fits my life better. I can't change. It will be too hard." I was reminded that the pain I feel is only a small picture of what God feels when we turn our backs on Him.

 But then what was this all about? "It was about keeping her safe" the words came to my soul.

So that is it. This book, or chapter has ended. It was not a glorious homecoming, and everyone living happily every after. It is but a segment of the story. The time we kept Lynn safe.

Will she come back. I have no doubt she will come in and out of our lives until the day we die. For now we will wait for the next chapter...