The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

"The best-laid plans of mice and men

often go awry"

Do you ever have great plans all laid out and find no matter how carefully you prepare, something still goes wrong? Well, that is how it was with the new organizing and cleaning articles I endeavored to write. For those of you who have waited with bated breath for the next installment and wondered what happened?...Well, life happened. Isn't that the way it is? We set plans in motion, that are "good to go" then destiny knocks on the door and walks right in. It is the surprising manner which catches us off guard. Like as in our case, the house we were in suddenly sold with a very small window of time to find a new place and move out.

Being in a whirlwind of surprises, reminds me of those rare mornings when everything is off kilter. The normal routine of having a nice cup of tea with some quite time to order the day, takes on new wings and heads south. When this occurs, the hamster wheel is set in motion. We madly dash through the house, hair flying everywhere, bed and face unmade with children wondering who the lady is doing the 220 in the living room.

We never seem to catch up do we and spin our wheels wondering what in the world happened?

*commercial break* Though one rises at the same time, this rare occurance was once a normal lifestyle when working outside the home. Thank God for "Deliverance Out of Egypt!" *now back to our story*

Of course this is also the day when everyone decides to drop in for a visit. Murphy's Law has a good laugh. On this auspicious occasion the phone rings incessantly, the UPS driver knocks at the door, the Jehovah Witnesses "you" while forgetting their booklets, unexpected guests come to call and the home you so happily pride yourself in, looks like a tornado hit it. Then to top it all off~your wonderful children who were taught such great manners decide to take the day off with rumpled attitudes to match their choice of clothing. This is the moment we either laugh or cry and I think it best to laugh and learn. Learn to accept that life does not have to go our way, we may not always have it "all together" even with the best laid plans. There are circumstances beyond our control that do put us to the test. Like the old T.V. broadcasts with the high pitched warning,

"This is just a test of the emergency broadcasting system"

I do believe the Lord allows testing to help us evaluate "how we are doing". We must try to remember that when the term finals of life are due, it is time to compare ourselves with the conduct from the last evaluation. Like a parent who measures their childs height on the wall every year, their "little one" may still seem small from all appearances but when compared with the last measurement, "they grew a whole inch" and now it is time to rejoice!

If you are having one of those days or seasons when life seems to be throwing you fastballs and you are stricking out, remember from whence you came. You have grown a great deal over the years and are still growing even if it is in small measures. Be encouraged as you seek to surrender your will to God's plan, that you will succeed and have great innings again. You will be able to look back at this time and thank God for the adversity, the material which develops godly character that wins for Christ.

Let us also try to be flexible and not hold so tightly to the plans we have made, as it hurts so much when God has to pry it from our fingers. Corrie Ten Boom used this same analogy when God was teaching her to lay down her plans for His. This saying helped me a great deal over the years, to let go of "my expectations" and to trust God. Of course this is still being tested to remind me where I am at and where I am going.

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him"

"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." James 4:13-15