I am a BIG plan it person; like most things, that can be an advantage and/or a disadvantage. The disadvantage is that it is easy to get frustrated when things don’t go according to my plans & I miss some wonderful moments. You know – taking lemons and making lemonade kind of idea!
But not this weekend……I stayed focused on intentionally enjoying the moments, even if it wasn’t what I had planned.
We spent a long weekend at Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan. A gorgeous, well-maintained beach & state campground. We planned to go blueberry picking to finish off our Blueberries for Sal week & stock up for winter. Then we planned to camp & enjoy the beach. Here are the moments I would have missed if I’d just focused on what didn’t go according to my plans:
Blueberries were gone early this year! There were no blueberries to be found because of the hot summer we’ve been having – they had all ripened & been picked. So we decided to pick peaches. We’d never picked peaches before – fun!- Picking was so much fun we decided to pick something else. We stopped at Sovers where they said they had 5 different crops ready for U-pick! JACKPOT! So we went to pick grapes – bitter, apples – not really ripe, and blackberries – oops they were are gone. But we had so much fun wandering around the grape orchard & seeing how they grow. Plus, we got some wonderful Michigan cherries, pitted and all.
- Massive Migraine at midnight! After some Tylenol and a 45 minute shower I was starting to feel better. First of all, how blessed am I that the bathrooms were so close & that the showers were free, clean, and there was lots of warm water – even at midnight! The real special moment was sitting at our picnic table and watching the beautiful full moon, listened to the crickets, and reflecting.
- Big storm! We had only been at the beach a couple hours when we heard thunder – ergh! The downside to sleeping in a tent is it’s not a safe spot when there is lightening. So… we got dressed and drove around. Blessings: yummy lunch at Cracker Barrel (plus a great view of the lightening & downpour!) and the inside of our tent stayed 100% dry. But what really tickled our feathers was that after the storm there were great waves at the beach! The kids & I had a blast riding the waves!
You get the idea. Life is filled with moments that don’t go according to our plans. How foolish we are when we don’t realize that God has a better plan! Sometimes, if’ we are really watching, we can see the better plan – like this weekend. Other times, when sickness or death strike a loved one, it is harder to see. But God has a master plan that is so much better than ours – in EVERY way! He can see the big picture! I am so glad that my life is not limited by my plans.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
