Sometimes I can come up with the perfect plan. I strive for perfection in so many ways, too many ways. I do not attain it, does anyone, really? But we (I) continue to strive, not because we want perfection, but instead because we (I) struggle with pride. Funny, how none of us thinks pride is an issue we ourselves, struggle with. It looks so different played out in life. But I digress…
So I had a chance to offer to help our a sweet family we know last week. I had a plan. It was going to be such a lovely day. So many ideas.
God had other plans. The kids did not come. It was fine for us, we went ahead with our fun plans with other friends and life was good.
So often we do not know what we need or what we need to give. We have this perfectly orchestrated plan, and God says no. That’s when we show up late from a flat tire, or a throwing up child on the way somewhere, or any other catastrophe of life. It’s a detour that God has thrown at us.
How do we handle those detours? I think is shows who we are beneath the plans, beneath the shiny exterior. Who we really are. Are we really who we want others to think we are? Do we grumble at every detour? Or do we stop and think “Okay God, you must have a better plan, one that I cannot see or understand…” I admit, I rarely choose the “right” option initially. I often grumble, then, sometimes I catch a clue and let go of my plan.
So a few days pass, and along comes the detour. A phone call. A new plan. The kids are coming, but no plan this time. As I wanted to come up with another, more glorious plan – again because I have pride issues, I stopped. I knew that if God wanted me to have this fully mapped out day with lots of fun activities, the kids would have come last week. They came this week. They got to see what life looks like at the Cole Home. They saw real. We did not do anything, out of the ordinary, fun. We just did normal. And all day, I felt God reminding my heart that these sweet kids needed to see normal. Not traipsing from fun thing to fun thing. They needed to see discipline for a child who disobeys. They needed to see what normal lunch of peanut butter and jelly looks like. They needed to see a mom with things to do and time to still pour in truth and love.
Not my plan. I wanted fun, fun fun! I wanted the day here to be a fun day. And despite me, it was. The kids had fun checking chickens and gather eggs, putting away roosters and hens. They enjoyed jumping with my kids, despite the war of who was to jump with who. They asked for seconds with just about everything I served. They slept through my movie choice (probably much needed) and they left with smiles on their faces.
God’s plan – not mine. I am glad that God planned a detour in my week. I am glad that he reminded me that my normal is enough – it does not have to be big and grand. Maybe, I needed to know that our normal, day to day is enough for me too. I do not have to look for fun things to plan into each day – that life here is good enough.
I hope that next time God throws a detour my way that I receive it with thanks and not grumble!!
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