SEASON 6, EPISODE 23, “HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT”

66

GOOD, BETTER, BEST

“It’s not a matter of right and wrong; it’s a matter of folks loving and wanting what’s best.”

—CAROLINE INGALLS

Good parents make decisions based on love. Charles Ingalls wouldn’t let Almanzo marry Laura, not yet anyway. Love was his motive, not control. Laura was upset with her pa, and Caroline lovingly encouraged Charles to keep doing what he thought was best. He believed waiting until his daughter was older would be better.

My mother acted in much the same way after the show ended. Little House was a dream job, one we especially appreciated after later pounding the sidewalks of Hollywood for work. We survived two auditions and one commercial before calling it quits.

We made our first mistake when we didn’t recognize Ronald McDonald. The McDonald’s commercial would have been great exposure, but we had never eaten there. When the producer showed us a picture of Mr. McDonald, we saw nothing more than a man in a red wig and bright yellow overalls. Obviously our agent didn’t receive a call-back for that job.

Not long after, we filmed our first commercial, but my mom had second thoughts about continuing our acting careers. The people we were working with after Little House didn’t know our names. They didn’t care if we were tired or hungry. Mom decided we would graduate from acting and pursue kindergarten.

God redirects our paths. He loves us and knows where we should be headed. As Caroline said, it’s not about right and wrong, but what’s good, better, and best. My mom knew moving on would be best, and it was.

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

ROMANS 8:28 ESV

When has God redirected your path? Do you trust Him to know what is best?