Ah- Sweet- precious- naive Bethany. What’s a mother to do????

 

Soooooo, Bethany’s latest escapade is matchmaking.

 

 

Enter Daniel__________. Great Guy! Single. Enjoyable. Kind. Loves God. 27ish. Good Looking. (I can say that because I’m old enough to be his mother. 🙂    I guess you could say he’s the “total package”.   (Yes girls- there are still Christian, great guys out there that are seeking a godly gal!)

 

Anyhoo- Bethany and Daniel chat at church and have become friends. I so appreciate the way he listens patiently and treats her with respect.

 

A few nights ago, she was busily engrossed in her phone. I thought nothing of it until she said,

 

“There. I found her!  I got Daniel a match. I just sent her to him.”

 

 

Heart palpitating Emergency Alert, Rapid Breathing Call to Action- Did Bethany just say she “sent a her to him??????”

 

Oh.yes.she.did!

 

“Bethany” (I softened my voice in spite of my panic)  “What did you say?  What did you just do?”

 

Her eyes sparkled. “You know Daniel. He’s so nice mom. But he doesn’t have wife. I want him be happy. So I found him a match online and sent it to him. He needed a wife, I found him one.”

 

 

Struggling to stay calm, I tried to sound nonchalant- “Who did you find for him? Where did you find her? Do you even know this lady?”

 

 

“No. I don’t know her yet.I searched online til I found a pretty lady named Julie. Daniel likes the name Julie. I found her. I think she be a great wife for Daniel. So I just sent him a link and her contact information to him  on my phone.”

 

Oh.my.heart.

 

“Let me get this straight. You don’t know this lady.”

 

 

“No.”

 

 

“Oh Bethany! Your heart is precious wanting Daniel to have a wife. But first of all, I want you to know-  you don’t have to be married to be happy. God will lead Daniel to someone  in His timing.”

 

[Tweet “The LORD will work out His plans for my life- #Godslove #goodplans”]

 

I paused, trying to think how to maximize what I was going to say. In other words, how could I scare the living daylights out of her so she wouldn’t do this again?

 

“Bethany, this is serious! We’ve warned you about contacting people we don’t know on the internet, or Facebook, anywhere is very dangerous. Surfing the net can lead you to some really bad places.  We’ve talked about this before- you can’t blindly look for people- you can’t try to make friends or accept friend requests unless you know them in person. We’ll have to take phone away if you can’t follow the rules. ”

 

click this link to learn more about teaching your child about internet safety

 

She balked. When Bethany does what she does she does it because she is determined to do it. #stubborntothemax

 

It took 30 minutes of explaining potential threat of internet matchmaking with unknown people, the danger of predators, and the harm that could occur. She finally acknowledge (with tears and sincerity) she had been wrong to go about it that way.

 

We texted Daniel and told him what happened. Graciously he texted back and said, “No worries. I knew not to contact that person. But it was sweet of Bethany to think of me. It touched me that she cares so much.”  (what a great guy!)

 

Bed Time/Prayer Time arrived.

 

After praying for our family and for her future “honey”, she prayed, “And God, you know more people than I do, so could you send Daniel someone to marry? I want him be really happy.  Amen.”

 

That’s my girl! Relinquishing her control of “matchmaker” to the Greatest Matchmaker of all.

 

 

Surprising Treasure: Psalm 138:8 NLT- The LORD will work out His plans for my life–for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

 

 

 

 

down syndrome, God of Grace, joyful journey, special needs parenting