One year on vacation at the beach, my family took off for the evening to spend some time on the boardwalk. It was a special evening since there was a public fireworks display scheduled. It was crazy busy (of course) and we left the house later than we should have. There were people everywhere and we ended up driving around forever trying to find a parking spot. We took some side streets, then circled a gas station. We searched and searched for a decent place to park. We could have parked a few miles away, but the road was busy and I had to consider carting the kids through traffic.

We started to bicker, because frustration doesn’t look good on anyone. Tensions were building and kids were complaining. Finally, we decided to just go back to the beach house. We found a place to turn around and started heading back.

As we passed the boardwalk, I saw two boys in orange vests parking people! We managed to whip into their little parking lot and found cheap, perfect parking. It was a win for everyone, even if we were still a little irritated with each other.

We parked and made our way to the boardwalk. There were so many food choices we started bickering again. (I think that is the most common fight in my house: “Where are we going to eat?”) That old argument felt even more frustrating after the long parking trial.

If you have a family, I assume this sounds a little familiar.

We finally decide on a restaurant, but found out it had a 45-minute wait. At this point, I was pretty certain we would miss the fireworks, but we were all so hungry and hunger wasn’t helping attitudes.

After a long and irritating wait, the hostess finally took us upstairs to our table–and it was facing out to the ocean. A few minutes later, fireworks start going off literally right outside the restaurant.

We ended up having the perfect seats at the perfect time. The fireworks were beautiful and my heart just filled with joy. Had we left on time, had we not driven around for so long, had we not waited for dinner for almost an hour, we would not have experienced that perfect location or perfect timing. 

I think life can be like this. Sometimes when we are going through hard things, when we can’t see where the road is going, we start to get frustrated. We can feel like Jesus has abandoned us.

But God always sees the end–He always know the fireworks are coming. He has a plan, even when we don’t understand it. It’s up to us to trust that He will use everything, the good and the bad, to move us in the direction we need to go.

I’ve been a single mom for more than ten years now. Some years were hard and draining. They were financially tight. They were tiring and frustrating, not to mention lonely and scary. In those hard moments, I learned to trust Jesus. More than that, I begged Him to be active in my life. My attitude and direction changed when I really started to trust Him.

If you’re struggling, trust Jesus. Trust Him. He loves you more than you love yourself. Ask Him to be active in your life. May God bless your road and may it lead to fireworks!