Flexibility

"The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." - Proverbs 16:9

This has been a strange summer. One for the books, really. Tom and I had been looking forward to getting this little house painted over the first couple of months, and at the end of July going on our family beach trip to Galveston. Well, that isn't exactly truthful. I have to come clean and admit it was me who wanted to tackle the house, and during the most brutal months of the year!

It sounded good in my head, but "best laid plans" and all that, you know. Anyway, we started with a bang and morale was high... for about two weeks. Then we began to encounter LOTS we hadn't planned on. Old galvanized gutters needed replacing on the rear, and a number of sills were beginning to rot where water had pooled, I can only guess because of the leaky gutters.

There seemed to be delay after delay. Rain. Rot. More rain. I got sick for a whole week with something akin to whatever's akin to Covid. Weekend plans changed on the fly. Commitments. I was so OVER IT!

We weren't the only ones dealing with upended plans. Our kids in the Houston area were feeling the effects of Beryl and the extended power outages that accompanied it. Sarah and Adrian and the baby were displaced for a while. Mark and Laura and the kids had to take refuge elsewhere in their trailer for over a week. Mark's church family had to meet in a different location because power hadn't been restored yet to the school where they regularly held services.

Like I said, strange summer.

Only two sides of the house had been done when it was time for our family trip, but, hey, family trip! Woohoo!! We all met at the Johnson Space Center on Monday to tour NASA, hopeful the grim forecast of nearly 100% chances of rain every day was just hedging their bet.

NASA was great. The kiddos had a blast, and Tom was in rocket heaven!! But... on one of the tram rides it started to rain, and to boot, Tom twisted a muscle in his back getting either in or out, and, well, you can guess where this is going.

The forecast was 100% correct! It rained. Boy, did it rain! I had never been to Galveston when it was anything but gorgeous and sunny. We tried not to let the weather dampen our spirits or our fun, but playing in the surf just wasn't really the same when being pelted in the face by stinging projectiles from the sky.

The entire summer just felt off, weird in a way, but that's only because of the preconceived notions I had in my head.

I had built up an ideal schedule. It was MY timeline, and it was a good one, or so I thought, but the calendar I packed left absolutely no wiggle room and definitely no space for flexibility.

People might say there are a number of things that can be called the secret of happiness. As a believer, I know without a doubt that faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior is the ultimate secret of happiness. I think after this summer, I would also have to say that flexibility is one that ranks up there close behind. It isn't so much a built-in flexibility of schedule, but rather a flexibility of attitude. We plan, but God is the one who directs. His plans are not always our plans. His ways are not our ways.

We get flustered and frustrated when things don't go the way we thought they would or should. We grumble and complain, at least I do. I don't like admitting that, but it's the truth. This is one of those "physician heal thyself" moments. I'm not speaking to you here, unless the shoe fits. I'm calling myself out on this one. You'd think by now with the number of years behind me, I'd have outgrown this childish behavior. Truth is, I'm still a work in progress. I pray that someday I'll be much better at this, and that's a prayer God wants to answer with a resounding, "YES," because He wants that for me too.

Flexibility of attitude, flexibility of heart requires we think with a God-centered mind. What is God doing in this situation? What is He accomplishing through this delay? How can He help direct my thoughts to the blessings I have right now, even in the midst of this unplanned set-back?

If and when we can do that, we can focus on the things that truly matter and appreciate God's plan even when we don't "get it."

I really needed that week of rest when I was forced to spend the majority of it in bed.

The vacation time indoors gave us time to visit in a much more relaxed way. Perhaps we all needed that more than we knew.

Tom's muscle strain may have kept him off the ladder where he could have been more seriously injured.

You've probably heard the saying, "Man plans... God laughs." I've heard it too, but I don't agree. God isn't some maniacal being sitting with baited breath, waiting to see what plans He can mess up for us just for the fun of it... just because he can. No. God is a loving God who is always looking out for our best interest, even when WE aren't. He made us. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and HE always, ALWAYS acts for our good,in all things, to draw us closer to Him.

So I guess the next time some of my plans are thwarted I need to stop. Stop my heart from grumbling, and look at the situation for the opportunity it is, the timely opportunity to praise and thank God for His goodness, for His mercy, for His protection..

and for HIS perfect plan.