Change of Plans

I've heard it said that if you want to make God laugh, all you have to do is tell Him your plans.

I think I must make Him laugh a lot.

I'm a planner. I'll admit it. I never thought I would be such a non-flexible person, but I am. I always imagined myself to be free spirited and spontaneous, but I think somewhere along the line, I wanted order somewhere in my life, and have found it in (somewhat) predictable days. Spontaneity has its place, to be sure, (how about a last minute road trip? I'm in!), but for the most part I like to know what's coming at me.

This is just another thing on the long "Please Work on These Areas of My Life, Lord" list that I keep in my head.

Because of this, today was especially frustrating for me. My plan for the day was changed repeatedly.

It went something like this...
7 am- talk with hubby about my day. Told him I'd try to go to Target after Allie's nap, and then I would go to Alltel after he got home, because I needed to get a new cell phone today.
9 am-receive phone call from Amy (the gracious lady who is letting us stay at her almost vacant house). She's having a showing between 6 and 7.
9:15 am- remember discussion with husband last night in which I said "if Amy has a showing, we're in trouble...there's still so much to do!"
10:00 am- change my plans. Will try to go to Alltel after Allie's nap to get my new cellphone. Will try to do Target with hubby and kids tonight while we need to be out of the house. Will clean like crazy while girls are napping.
11:30- finally get out the door and head to Alltel. Will try to go to grocery store on way home, if there's time. Don't want to mess up the girls' naps today... I need that time!
12:30-survived hour spent at Alltel. Success!! Becca was a little wild, but I have my new phone, and I'm feeling more 'planted' here. No time for the grocery store though...
1:30- get Allie down for her nap. Success!!
1:40- while changing Becca, the hutch from her changing table (yes ladies, she's 2 1/2 and still wants to be changed on a changing table!) slides off the side of the dresser. I caught some of the weight with my hand, but the hutch was resting on Becca's head. Somehow I managed to hold the very heavy hutch with one hand, and slide Becca out with the other. This was followed by tears from both of us. Plans for cleaning were scrapped as I worried about taking my precious girl to the ER. I called my hubby, and he told me to just put ice on it for a little bit, and see how she does.
1:55- I cuddle with Becca in our bed and we watch some random cartoon on TV while I try to hold an ice pack on her ever growing goose egg.
2:20- mostly convinced that she's okay, I put Becca down for her nap. She's tired, and I pray that she'll be okay napping so soon after her 'incident'.
2:30- I finally start on my frantic cleaning. Stopping every so often to go in and check on Becca. She looks so sweet lying there...I just want to hold her.
3:30- Allie is up! And there is still so much to do!! (We really want Amy to know that we're taking care of her house...we want it to show well!)
3:45-Allie is settled after her bottle. I hope she'll be content to just follow me around as I frantically try to finish our moving in cleanup so that the house looks ready to show.
4:30-Phew! The house just might look okay! I think it'd be funny to watch a video of me running around like I was, though. Never knew I could move that fast! Time to get Becca up and get out the door! We're going to stop at Target, and then meet 'daddy' for dinner at my favorite restaurant from high school (Cheddar's!)
4:35- What's that smell? Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh....Becca had a blow out, and now I need to change her, her sheets, and light a candle to get rid of the smell! So I guess we won't be leaving soon....(but at least she seems to be okay!)
5:20-We roll out the door. On to Target, and a yummy dinner at Cheddar's!
6:00- We meet daddy and go to Cheddar's. On our way to our table, we see Amy having dinner with a friend. "Hi Amy!"

It really wasn't a bad day...I just needed to readjust my attitude more often than usual. I wonder why this is so hard for me? Flexibility is a good thing! I need to pray for more flexibility in my life. Plans are good and everything, but life happens. And who knows what today will bring? My plans need to be able to change without it being a drama.

Father...help me to be more patient and flexible with life, and with the precious girls you have blessed me with, for now. Please help me to handle the bumps in the road that life throws at me with grace and patience, and to understand that I'm not in control. You are. Only You know the plans that You have for my life. My plans are made with limited vision...and Yours are made from an eternal view.