Recently I found a new dentist for my kids, and it felt like an Ebenezer moment.

Let me explain.

When my husband was let go from his job at our former church, I had just started working full-time, so we were able to switch to health insurance through my job. But that also meant our kids’ dentist was now out of network. We started looking for a new dentist, and it was stressful! I have four kiddos so it takes time to schedule appointments. We tried two new places. The first place was a total miss; the dentists were impatient and I got a yucky vibe from the whole clinic. The second place wasn’t pediatric-specific, but it was fine. The workers were kind and there was a prize drawer, and while some of the treatments weren’t what we were hoping for, it was ok. Good enough.

Every so often, I’d check our insurance company’s website for in-network clinics and compare it to my list from Google searches and friends’ recommendations—but they never seemed to line up. There was one out-of-network clinic that had every service and treatment we wanted, came with rave reviews, and was all camp-themed. Camp-themed! (If you know my family, you know we LOVE camp!) I sighed every time I saw this clinic on my list because it never appeared on our insurance company’s list of covered providers.

Finding a dentist for my kids became part of my middle-of-the-night worry list (without my consent). Do you have one of those lists, too? It’s the worst. Like a real bummer of a ticker tape parade, worries and fears roll through your head without your permission in the wee hours of what’s supposed to be your time to rest, recharge, and reset. Instead, you toss and turn, blood pressure spiking and thoughts raging despite your best efforts to count sheep.

One day, I found out that my company’s dental insurance was changing. I got back on the insurance website just in case, and there it was: the dream clinic, the camp-themed one that was such a perfect fit! It was on the in-network list! We’ve now been there for several visits and a few procedures, and it has been as wonderful as we’d hoped. My 4-year-old is legit bummed that he can’t go back until his next checkup this summer.

What the heck does this story have to do with the Lord? you may be wondering.

Discovering my kids could now go to this clinic felt like a good and perfect gift directly from God. It was a tangible display in my life of God doing what God does — making beauty from ashes, bringing joy from sadness, and offering delight from a situation that felt like would never produce anything good.

And of course, it’s not just about a kids’ dentist. It’s about the good and perfect gifts God gives if we open our hands to drop what was just good enough.

Besides the new dentist, my husband’s painful job loss also led us to find a new church, which has become a second home for our family. We’ve made more friends and found deeper community there in under three years than we had in twenty years at our former church. The kids have friends from all parts of their life — school, sports, Scouts, the neighborhood — all meeting up together at church. My husband and I can volunteer and be involved in ways we couldn’t before. It’s been a major gift in our life to have this new place, all beauty from ashes.

When it all crashed and fell apart, God had the next right thing ready to roll.

Did it hurt? Heck yes. Did I believe the next right thing even existed? No, I did not. Did I want to go back in time and step back into what had been just fine, good enough, ok? I did. Was the next thing a good gift and so much better than what had been? Absolutely.

And you know what? Without everything falling apart, we would never have left our church or the dentist because they were fine. They were good enough. We were sufficiently happy there. And yet, waiting for us was something so much better.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
James 1:17 NIV

I think about the good enoughs from my past, and the ‘good and perfects’ I would have missed out on if I hadn’t stepped away. The dentist. That church. Boyfriends. (Praise the God of small and large favors for the wisdom to step away from all the boyfriends of my youth except the one who became my husband!) Jobs. Relationships. Ideas.

The what-ifs alone are enough to make one shudder and also give deepest thanks for the leading of God’s still, small voice.

As for that Ebenezer, according to Google, An Ebenezer is a stone monument that commemorates God’s help, and the phrase “raise your Ebenezer” is a reminder to remember God’s blessings. The word “Ebenezer” is Hebrew for “stone of help”. I may not have an actual rock that helps me remember God’s goodness, but I have kids with clean teeth that are a testament. I have dear friends at church, a pew that has become “ours”, and a family who is excited about belonging.

May we never tire of seeking the Ebenezer stones in our life. Big and small, tangible or otherwise, let’s look for reminders of God’s love and good gifts. May we never settle for good enough when God’s good and perfect beckons. And may we tune our ears to listen for the still, small voice that guides our steps with wisdom to tell the difference.