Riley Moon

We couldn’t help but notice the big, full moon in the clear night sky as we drove back to our hotel room. My husband and I had spent the last week moving our oldest daughter, Riley, to Baton Rouge. Packing, lugging, driving, storing, sorting, unpacking, hanging, organizing most all of her twenty-two years of earthly possessions to and in her very first, living-on-her-own, apartment.

We were (and in many ways still are) exhausted, but that moon wasn’t full that night by coincidence. You see, the night before we brought her home from the hospital when she was born in May of 2003, the moon was full as well. It was the biggest, brightest moon we had ever seen. It seemed so large that it had to be close enough to touch from the rooftop of Lexington Kentucky’s highest building. It was a sign God was giving us that He saw us, He saw her and He was doing something.

I had been discharged from the hospital that day and left her there in the NICU. We entered a quiet, dark house with empty arms and heavy hearts. Not knowing what the next days would hold for Riley’s health, we cried out in prayer, trusting God’s timing and His plan. We knew then as we again gave her back to Him that He had plans for her that would be good for her and glorifying to Him. We had no idea how sanctifying being her parents would always continue to be.

That next day, after the full moon - the one we dubbed “Riley Moon,” God graciously answered our prayers and we brought our baby home. This weekend, under another “Riley Moon” we have again cried out to God and can testify that He is again being faithful to respond to our cries.

There have been SO many confirming signs that God has given both to her and to us as we have walked this journey over the last year. What would she do after graduation? Should she go to grad school? Where? How would she pay for it? The questions never seemed to cease. As one would be answered at least one other would be born.

It was hard watching her wrestle, at times witnessing her weep and always wanting to somehow make things easier for her. Parenting an adult is not something I anticipated, but here her daddy and I are - still seeking our Lord for wisdom to guide and discernment to know when to intervene.

Yet, the three of us (alongside her two younger sisters who have been along for this wild ride) have watched God provide answers for every question and lead all of us in the way she should go every step of the way.

God opened doors at LSU, first for admittance and then for funding. God ordered a place for her to live and ordained the timing for her to move in. God even orchestrated details to provide gentle whispers in our ears and hearts that He is in this. He is doing something. He is in her and has plans for her future.

Some of those details were more than evident when her apartment aesthetic came together as we unpacked her things. The built in bookshelves provided the perfect home for her VAST collection of books, plus her Lego Notre Dame and her French language globe. The amazing deals she got on her couch and other items allowed her to be a good steward of her graduation gifts. Looking around at our week’s finished work, we could see God’s fingerprints over this haven He was providing for her as she begins this new chapter.

Another way God showed his showered goodness upon Riley, was in how He provided the amount she would need to move into this new home of hers. Over the last few years, Riley had accumulated a “stash” of cash in her room. Her daddy and I would borrow from this “Bank of Riley” when we needed a twenty, but were always careful to pay it back. Before she left, she decided to close her little bank and put the funds into her actual account. When she counted it up, God smiled at her. It was to the very dollar what she needed to pay her first month in her new apartment - deposits, fees, everything. He continued to confirm to her, and to us, that she is being obedient and He is taking the best care of her.

Then, this morning, I am back home in Tennessee. I am preparing to go to church. I am thinking about my oldest girl. I am praying for her. I knew she had plans to visit a church she “just happened” to discover close to her apartment while we were in town. This church “just so happens” to have a belief statement, worship style and more that she found intriguing. But my prayer this morning wasn’t just for her. I prayed that there would be a lady who would reach out to her, to welcome her, to make her feel good about worshipping there this morning. When I spoke to her this afternoon, I found that God had answered my prayer with immeasurably more than I asked for or imagined. Ms. Monique intentionally engaged Riley. Her family was introduced to Riley. Her daughter, who is Riley’s age, invited her to the Singles small group meeting tonight. And - Riley accepted that invitation. Now, I don’t know if this is the church or the small group that Riley will end up joining, but I do know that God is continuing to answer our prayers for our adult daughter.

I was her age when I married her daddy. God gave me signs and confirmed in my heart that it was His will that I become Wally’s wife. I wanted to, but I was scared. I had so many “what ifs” in my mind that frightened my heart. It was too late to back out - it was my wedding day after all. Yet I was confident that this was God’s will for my life that it would be disobedient for me to do anything else.

We know that this is true for Riley at 22 too. God has made it clear that this is where she should be. This is what she should do. This is His will for her. It is this knowledge built on faith that allowed us to leave her so very far away. And it is in this faith that we will continue to trust God to take care of her (and us too).

He has been faithful to us since before she was born and we have witnessed His faithfulness to her since before we ever saw our first “Riley Moon.” He has given us a front row seat to watch how He will continue to unfold His plans for her, plans to prosper her and not to harm her. He is actively glorifying Himself in her.

Thank you Lord for your good graces and amazing mercies for her and for us. Thank you for another “Riley Moon.”