His plans, not mine

I know.  I know.  It's been a while.  Like months.

 As my pastor would say, I've spent the last few months (years???)  being Terminally Driven.  But, I've heard what the Lord has been speaking to me through this sermon series, and I'm taking the command to rest (Hebrew: shabbat) to heart.

For instance, last week  my sweet friend blessed me with an invitation to bring my son and come over for a "play date" this afternoon, and I actually cleared a spot in my planner and gave myself permission to stop for a few hours and cultivate a friendship.  I'm so glad I did!  With our sons in the backyard having Mashoonga wars, we sat at the kitchen table sipping coffee and talking...talking...talking... about life, kids, and of course homeschool curriculum (because we're both curriculum junkies, you see!).

Another much looked-forward-to "stop-to-rest" opportunity begins tomorrow (well, later today actually).  For weeks I've been planning a weekend, girls-only trip to a cabin at the lake with my dear friend to rest, hang out in our pj's, watch chick flicks, crochet, read books, and generally just stop the busy craziness of our lives to hang out together for the weekend.  Then, we had a curve thrown in this plan a couple of days ago when her grandfather was admitted to the hospital with all the doctors telling her family that he probably wouldn't be with them more than a couple more days.  So, she understandably had to cancel her plans with me for the weekend. {And please pray for them!} This set in motion a flurry of "what am I going to do?" thinking, which resulted in the following sequence of events:

#1.  Call the cabins to see if we could cancel the reservation.  (Answer = No because they have a 5-day cancellation policy.)
#2.  Ask my dear hubbie to join me, which would have been a treat since it's been a couple of years since we got away together for a weekend.  (Answer = No because he already had committed to work on a project with some friends while I was away and didn't want to back out now.)
#3.  Brainstorm which of my other girl friends I could invite.  But coming up blank since it's spring break and most of them are out of town or already have plans.
#4.  Going alone... but that idea kind of freaked me out... too many horror movies in my youth with the setting of a cabin beside a lake.   Umm, no!
#5.  THE WINNING IDEA:  I asked my 16-year-old daughter if she'd like to invite a friend and the two of them go hang out at the cabin with me for the weekend.  (That way I wouldn't be alone, but with her bringing a friend I could still just veg since she would have someone there to talk to... since I'm pretty sure sitting around in our pj's, watching chick flicks, and crocheting would get old with her really quickly.)  So, yeah - not going alone, getting to spend time with daughter, still getting to go to the cabin = me smiling again (even though I'm still sad for my friend and will miss her this weekend).

Were these the plans I had for myself for this week?  Umm, no.
Were these the plans God had for me this week?  Definitely.

He knew I needed that sweet time of fellowship during the play date today (instead of spending that 3 hours working/doing school assignments/etc/etc/etc).  He also knew about my friend's grandfather and that she would need to spend this time with her family, and He knew how much it would mean to me to have this time with my daughter this weekend - a rare opportunity anymore.

So, thank you, Lord, for once again knowing the plans you had for me and working everything out to give me your perfect plan for my days, my weeks, my life.  Thank you for my sweet friends. Thank you for this time with my daughter (and her friend) this weekend.  And thank you for my understanding hubbie who completely gets how much I need this weekend away right now.

The Lord also introduced me to a couple of other blessings today, which you can be a part of too:

Bible Bee:  Registration for this summer-long family Bible study begins April 1, 2012.  Family Bible study kits will arrive on June 1, 2012, and the summer of studying the Word together will culminate on August 27 with the actual Bible Bee.

21 Days of Prayer for Sons:  A 3-week challenge to "pray purposefully and passionately for the hearts of your sons" from May 1-May 21, 2012, based on the book Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most (available on Kindle & Nook).

I hope you'll join me in these two wonderful adventures. 

Maybe it won't be so long until I write another blog post.  Until then, I hope you remember that the Lord has great plans for you.

Heather