Flexibility

Proverb 16:9 says, "A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps."

I try to keep this verse in the forefront of my mind while making my daily/weekly plans. Sometimes I have that flexibility and other times, not so much.

This weekend, my husband was at our church's annual men's retreat. For the boys and me, that pretty much means a weekend of play (not that we don't play when he's home; it's just our yearly deal). It's the one weekend out of the year when I let them watch too much tv and play too many video games. It's also the one weekend that I designate as my scrapbooking weekend. At our previous house, I would tell the boys they HAD to eat in front of the television for every meal. You can imagine how that went over! The reason? Because I was going to take over the dining room table for scrapbooking. Then we'd go rent some movies and have a fun, laid-back weekend.

Somehow, this year didn't turn out quite as expected. The boys were having issues with each other on Saturday. Issues which required my intervention. As much as I wanted to crop, I had a hard time getting to it. One of the boys had a huge meltdown Saturday night around the time we leave for church. Things just didn't come together so well.

This afternoon, the guys were on their way back down the mountain from the retreat and hubby called to see if I could have my dad pick up the car trailer from a friend's because one of his friends' car broke down - clear on the other side of Berthoud Pass, around two hours from home (could you imagine the towing bill?!?). Of course, we were excited to have hubby home tonight after being gone for the weekend, but apparently that wasn't God's plan.

My dear husband had the means and ability to help someone out, which trumped the desire to be home. No surprise to God, though. It was in His plan all along. We've had snow on and off recently, and they definitely get more up there, but God was gracious to provide dry roads for this trip. He'll be home a little late, but nothing terrible.

In the case of my husband, I know that God changed his plans to use him to bless someone else. In the case of my weekend plans, I don't really know why they didn't pan out. But does it really matter? We should be every bit as flexible whether we know the reason or not. God's still in control. He's still trustworthy and faithful. And He will bless our obedience to His call.