Un-planned

Plans. Have you ever heard the phrase, "Fail to plan, plan to fail"? I've always embraced the idea of at least trying to get some ducks in a row, get a date on the calendar, secure a reservation, put together a to-do list, etc. But, lets face it, sometimes our best laid plans still fail. Sometimes stuff just happens. 

 Take Saturday, for example. Don and I each had plans later in the day - he with all of our boys, which would involve a fun afternoon/eve at Top Golf. Me, a movie and dinner to celebrate my sister's birthday. At 2:00 pm, we were both going to head out in different directions. Only one tiny little problem. On Friday night, we heard a loud "bam" that sounded like a gun shot coming from our garage (Did something fall?) Nope. The wire that pulls our garage door open snapped. This would not have been an immediate-fix type issue if it hadn't been for the fact that we couldn't open the door. Our cars were both literally held hostage.

 This prompted a call to a repairman, who promised he'd be at our house between 10:00-12:00 Saturday. Nevertheless, a follow up call came informing us that one of his guys called in sick, so he couldn't come until the evening.

 Now what? Thankfully, we figured out a ride to both our destinations. The door eventually got fixed in the evening. $365 later! It just got me thinking. Sometimes stuff just happens, doesn't it? Totally unexpected. One minute, you have money in your bank account. The next minute, you don't. One minute, you are healthy, the next minute, you're flat on your face, broken and bruised. Or the phone rings with bad news. Or your boss calls you into his/her office. The list is endless.
Thursday night, the sky was blue, dotted with huge cotton balls. I headed out for a 2-mile nature walk. There I was, strolling along, praying and praising God, when all of a sudden - torrential downpour. Needless to say, I hightailed it for about 15 minutes, totally soaked, not even able to see through my glasses.Yikes! Talk about a change of plans. And then, just like that, it stopped. A rainbow streaked acrossed the sky.

Yep, we can make our plans, but they can change at any point. Ultimately, God is the one in control. Sometimes we get wet. Sometimes we have to improvise and be flexible. In truth, we have ZERO control. Still, we can try to plan ("try" is the key word). So hard for me! This girl wishes she could control the outcome.

 Proverbs 16:1 - "We can make our plans, but the final outcome is in God's hands."

 Dear Lord, please help me to remember that.  Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adam's Tree

Image
Somehow, I mustered the courage to open the box and peek inside. Deep breath, Mary, you can do this. One by one, I unwrapped the ornaments from their tissue paper cocoons and hung them on the branches. Of course, the floodgates opened. Baby’s first Christmas – 1991, a baseball – 1997, computer wizard – 2005, red convertible – 2007, holiday camping tent – 2009. They are gifts from my mother-in-law, “Grandma Connie,” who bought each of the kids a yearly ornament until they reached adulthood. The eclectic collection used to hang on the family tree all together, but when the kids grew up, I separated them into their own boxes so they could take their treasures with them.   What should I do with Adam’s box of ornaments? I wondered. Val suggested I decorate a small tree with them, which seemed like a good idea. That is, until I opened the box. I’ve learned in my support group that we cannot go around the pain that is grief, or over it, or under it – we must go through it. Alan W
Read more

The Things We Pack

Image
I gazed out the window of our cruise ship cabin. Grey-blue waves seemed to stretch out infinitely over the horizon. We were 700 miles from San Francisco where we’d departed, headed for Hawaii. Tears welled up in my eyes, fogging up my glasses.  Why am I so sad? I should be enjoying this vacation, not pining away at this window.  But I couldn’t help it. The ocean view was just a visual reminder of the endless grief waves that keep crashing over me. Even though it’s been a little over eight months, they just keep coming.  Will they ever stop?  The grief books assure me they will eventually slow down. I sure hope so! Back in the fall, we planned the late-January vacation knowing that the holidays, followed by Adam’s birthday two weeks after Christmas, would likely leave us drained. We were right. As we packed the Sunday before, I asked Don, “Do you think there will ever be a day when we don’t think about losing him?” “We’ll never stop thinking about him,” Don said. “But
Read more

My One Word For 2016: Release

Image
A very sad thing happened to Rudolph on the way to Christmas dinner.  He lost one of his antlers on the freeway. "How can this be?" You ask. Well, it all started when my mother-in-law rolled down the window...well, actually, it started when I purchased a red nose and antlers for my KIA. Silly. Yes. But fun. And these days I'll take all the fun I can muster up. But my fun didn't last long, because when we picked up Don's mom on Christmas, she didn't know the rule about not rolling down the window. So, there I was, perched in the back seat balancing the scalloped potatoes and flowers and salad and such. In a split second - woosh! The antlers flew onto the freeway. Oops. Sorry about that.  I've been praying for the past couple weeks about what ONE word God wants me to focus on in the coming year. Last year my word was HOPE. I've been sensing that in 2016, He wants me to focus on the concept of RELEASE. Letting go. Setting free. Giving up. I think t
Read more