If you’ve read this post, you’d know that my family had been in the adoption process seven years ago. We’d been hoping to adopt a child from the Philippines (where my great-grandmother is from), but obviously that changed. I’m not actually sure when we’d started the adoption process, as it had always been a part of my childhood, but I do know that after we started the process, we had to wait a very long time to adopt.

There are many different adoption processes, but we were doing it in a particular way: the adoption agency would send us information of a child who we’d been matched with, and my parents would discuss whether or not they were someone we would adopt. (Speaking of my parents…I should probably fact-check all of this with them.) Every now and then, I would hear my parents talking about a child that the adoption agency had told them about, and my parents would talk to me and my younger brother about it.

I distinctly remember one child that we considered adopting. While I don’t remember her name, I do remember that she was from the Philippines, and didn’t have hands, she only had a thumb on her right hand, but she could write cursive beautifully. She was a maybe a year older than I was (and I was around seven or eight at the time), and I was sure that she was the one. I got so excited, thinking I would have a sister and a new best friend.

For a week or so, (it could have been a few weeks, this was a long time ago and my memory is fuzzy,) my parents prayed about it, talked about it, and thought about it. Finally, I remember them coming into my room and saying that they had decided not to adopt her.

I was crushed. (I think) I remember crying, and I was mad! I had seriously thought that we’d finally adopt a kid, I’d finally have a sister, and I thought that she would be the perfect match to our family. So we waited a little longer, about a year or so.

Then we heard from my mom’s friend, Shannon, that there was a few month-old boy with medical needs who needed to be adopted. And again, after praying about it, talking about it, thinking about it, we decided that he was the one. (You can read the rest of that story here if you haven’t.)

So, that was a super long intro. (Yes, that was the intro.) But what does it have to do with the title: God’s Clock vs. Our Clocks?

Well, as human beings, we have a big thing with planning out our lives. We plan out the hours, the days, the weeks, the months, and the years. We think, “Oh yeah. I got it alllll planned out.”

But who actually has a firm plan?

The Big Guy upstairs.

You see, God’s clock is set differently than our clock. What’s the difference?

Well, here’s a list of things that human clocks are set to:

1. Sin. What we do that is against God’s nature determines our plans.
2. People. What they say or do (to us, or to others) affects our emotions and how we plan. And, we are biased towards people we know or know of, and that affects almost everything we do.
3. Place and time. We think we know where we are, what we’re doing, but we don’t see the whole picture.
4. Memories. Again, we don’t see the whole picture, but just ours and the stories around us, but we don’t know the small details.

But what is God’s clock set to?

1. Love. What his love does is affecting us every day. That’s what helped us meet our best friends, spouses and partners, family, mentors, and get to love the world around us.
2. Grace. His grace (and love) is the reason we are here today, getting to know and love him.
3. Perfect timing and view. God sees everything, everyone, every thought, every tear, every scar, every memory. He knows it all, and he works so that it can all be used in love.

Even though I was hurt and sad and angry because that girl didn’t get to join my crazy family, I’m so grateful that my brother joined our family. God’s timing is the best timing.

We think it’s too late, and then God tells us…
“We don’t use the same clock.”

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
~Willow <3