Purposefully on Purpose

Strategically-placed parenting necessities remind Nikki Lamberg of God's very purposeful placement of her within her family, at this particular point in time.

If you come to my house, you will notice that things are misplaced. There is a thermometer on the counter in the kitchen. There is a small pillow and a folded blanket lying next to my side of the bed in our bedroom. There is a burp cloth and a nursing wrap on the end table next to the rocking chair in the living room. And there is a mini coffee station in my bedroom closet.

Although these items may seem randomly strewn about, each of these items are purposely misplaced to help with the success of running our household of six. The thermometer has been on our counter for the past week as our daughter battled a virus that left her with a high fever for five days straight. The folded blanket and pillow are for our small children who wake up during the night with bad dreams and want to feel close to mom and dad. The burp cloth and nursing wrap on the end table is so that I am not frantically trying to find either item when our infant daughter decides she can’t wait a minute longer to eat.

And the mini coffee station in my bedroom closet? Well, that little idea is what’s keeping this momma going every day (along with Jesus and my prayers of course!) It’s a beautiful thing to pop in a k-cup right before showering, and to be able to step out to the smell of a delicious smelling and tasting cup of coffee. It is the very thought of this first cup of coffee that helps get me out of bed night after night of getting up with our baby girl.

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Just as these items are purposefully placed for the success of our life, God has purposefully placed us exactly where we need to be too.

I think about the timing of events God has purposefully laid before me. When I’m running behind schedule, or one of the kid’s forgets something in the house and I must run back in, I know that there is a reason God wanted me to take those extra few minutes before heading out. There is a small hill that we need to cross when driving from our sideroad to the highway. It’s one of those “you can see but you can’t see” sort of things, and I say a silent prayer every time we drive on to that road. On more than one occasion, I have thought how if we were only a couple of seconds earlier, we could have had an interaction with another vehicle. And I thank God that we were just a few seconds behind schedule.

On a deeper level, I have been reflecting on the infertility journey my husband and I were on between our first and second child. Reflecting on that journey, we were purposely placed in that season for so many reasons. Going through our infertility was a test of our marriage. It brought me so much closer to God and had me on my hands and knees in anguish and prayer. It taught me so much about myself, and my desires for the life I want to live.

And most recently, I have been reflecting on God’s perfect timing of my age and having four children now. Life is beautifully hard right now with children’s ages ranging from 10 years to eight months. But I believe God wanted me to learn more about myself while learning how to surrender myself to Him, before I knew I had the strength and stamina for this season of life.

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God has perfectly placed me where I am supposed to be, on purpose and on time. #CatholicMom

God has perfectly placed me where I am supposed to be, on purpose and on time. And although the timing and placement was hard to understand on my journey, I am forever grateful to be able to see the why on the other end. So, while things may not seem perfectly placed in your eyes right now, you are purposefully on purpose in His eyes.

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