I went to my 20th high school reunion recently and a classmate told me that my ex-boyfriend who was in the class ahead of me was sentenced to 25 years for a home improvement scams. Although I am far removed from that relationship and the pain of that break-up, a residual of bitterness made me think, that’s what he gets. Our break-up was sudden-or at least to me. It was the classic string-my-girl-along while I try out a new model scenario. I confronted him about his other girls, then I was floored when he told me don’t call him no more. Soon I found myself as just one of the choices that wasn’t selected on his multiple choice test.
After an enjoyable reunion weekend, I began to think of what I had been told in another light. It was praise worthy. This guy was no good for me. I believe God pulled me away from this person that I was determined to hold on to. Call it divine intervention.
In my second novel, The Manual, I worked hard to create a similar image. So it was ironic that I got this revelation on the eve of turning in my final edits. What would a parent do if they found their child playing with something dangerous or something that could possibly harm them like a box cutter? Most of us who are not interested in recording the footage to win a prize on a Home Vide
o program would probably snatch it away immediately-no questions asked.Poor kid, he was content before his all-knowing parent comes and takes away his play thing. His curiosity had only begun to experiment with the many features of the desired object. Now the kids balling ‘cause he doesn’t know what happened or why he can’t have his toy back. I can just see a snotty-faced mess of a toddler running after his parent on unsteady legs with outstretched arms screaming, give it back, give it back, give it back. Not trusting the wisdom of that parent, the toddler jumps up in an attempt to take his toy back. But the parent is unrelenting, retracting the blade, and taking it away for good.
What if we were that toddler and that all knowing parent was God. I believe that is the way the Hand of God works in our lives. Like that toddler we don’t understand why he takes things out of our grasp. Later on you may come across your plaything hidden on a high shelf. You remember the pleasure playing with it brought. Being a little older and wiser you now understand the hazards. In most cases you are thankful you had someone to watch over you.
You could not tell me 20 years ago that me and my ex would not be together forever. Sometimes relationships come to an abrupt end and we don’t why. Modern society has you searching for closure from that person. Sometimes closure only comes by getting closer to God.
Read about high school sweethearts, Deidre and Andre, reunited after eight years in The Manual due to hit bookstores October 2009. Subscribe to my blog, Making the Manual (www.makingthemanual.blogspot.com) for more insights and revelations from the book.
