When God Blesses His Children

My daughter, Haadiya, and I had an opportunity to honor the Sabbath after she asked to enroll in gymnastics when she was seven years old.

A year later, she was ready to join the team and participate in the competition season. Of the five mandatory competitions, four meets were on Sundays. For the only Saturday meet, she was allowed to participate with another team on Sunday.

She only received a participation medal for that meet, but she was still happy. Now watch what God did: At that specific meet they competed to see who could hold the longest handstand. Guess who won? Yes, God loves to honor His children! After taking a break during the pandemic, she returned once things opened up, and her competition season began in January 2023. She had five mandatory meets, with mandatory registration and payments before the schedules were created. The coach warned me about the probability of forfeiting any Saturday competitions and losing the nonrefundable $200 fee each time.

Despite the financial constraints, I just knew God would come through! The first four competitions were scheduled for either Friday afternoons or Sundays.

The coach, aware of our Sabbath-keeping, texted me about a Friday meet and said, “I think the sun will set around six o’clock and the meet ends just before seven o’clock, so I guess Haadiya will leave by six o’clock.” My daughter finished her four events right before six o’clock! God, I cannot explain the way You work, but even when we do not see it—You are working. But the enemy was also at work. The final meet was scheduled for six o’clock on Saturday, with warm-up starting at five thirty. I told the coach we would arrive after sunset, and she said we might have to forfeit this meet because the decision was out of her hands.

We took a leap of faith and arrived after sunset.

Haadiya was able to participate in three events and was allowed to make up the missing one. She placed in every event, and we glorified God all the way home! Pathfinders met the next day, and my exhausted kids begged to skip it.

We spoke about how God had honored them, and the next morning they were up and off earlier than usual. Yes, we can do all things through Christ—and He will honor and bless us as we serve Him faithfully.

Caren Henry Broaster