This past Saturday was a “lazy” Saturday for my family and I. We didn’t have anything to do until later in the day so everyone sat around the house – just relaxing. Everyone was still in their pajamas when I decided to get dressed and run a few errands. When I returned home, I realized there were a lot of leaves in our front yard and on our porch. I walked in the house and told my husband, “I’m going to clean up the leaves in the front of the house. I’ll be right back”.
MY PLAN was to go outside, sweep the leaves off the porch, and rake the leaves in the front yard. It would take thirty minutes – tops!
At first, MY PLAN was going smoothly. I swept off the front porch and started raking the leaves from the yard into a pile.
The leaves were in a nice, neat pile
The next thing I know, my four-year-old daughter comes out the house and says, “Mom, I want to help you”. I didn’t think much of it, I handed her the rake and went back to work. Then she says, “Mom, I have an idea. Let’s put all the piles of leaves together so I can jump in them. I want to play in the leaves”.
I didn’t want her to play in the leaves. I wanted to finish raking them so I could go in the house, watch TV, and relax. I remember thinking to myself, “If I let her play in the leaves, I’ll have to rake them up all over again. It will take forever for me to clean everything up.
“This is not what I PLANNED”
The truth is… I don’t like to deviate from the PLAN. It makes me nervous. It makes me uncomfortable
But, I decided to open myself up to the possibility that there was something else for me that day
Something else besides just raking the leaves, watching TV, and relaxing. So, my daughter and I raked all the leaves in a big pile and she played. She played for hours. Our neighbors joined in and all the kids had so much fun playing in the leaves. And I had fun watching them.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “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”.
The truth is… I have PLANS for everything. PLANS for my family. PLANS for my kids. PLANS for my career. PLANS for my life. But, I don’t want to be so focused on MY PLANS that I miss THE PLANS that God has for my life. His PLANS are so much better
I remember thinking to myself, “I can’t believe MY PLAN to clean up the leaves turned into hours of fun for my daughter and her friends. And I almost missed it”. If I’m not careful, I’ll miss the joyous moments of everyday life in my attempt to stick to A PLAN. And I want all the joyous moments in life that God has for me.
So, my prayer today is…
Lord, open my heart to the PLANS you have for my life. Don’t allow me to be so focused on MY PLANS that I miss YOURS