God’s Ways Are Better Than Our Ways

There’s Always Something

Recently, I have been feeling much more stressed. My schedule has been out of whack because it’s summer and my to do list has been larger because I have been entertaining more, which is wonderful and I love it, but it’s still a lot of work. We have had some unexpected repairs come up for the house as well as some other surprise mishaps. So needless to say, I’ve been stressed. I’ve tried to make time to read, however, and I just finished the book “Living a Life You Love: Embracing the Adventure of Being Led By the Holy Spirit” by Joyce Meyer. I loved it, it’s super simple and straight forward, like all of her books. And man, does she have a great sense of humor. The part about obedience really struck me, and how God rewards our obedience. I also took the part about praying for God’s grace to heart, and I have been.

My Plan to De-Stress

Because I’ve been under an extraordinary amount of stress, I decided I needed a break. I decided not to do any dishes or laundry or cleaning. My plan was to just chill out, watch movies, and play with the kids. Half of the day went this way, and it was nice. And because of our extra expenses, I didn’t want to spend gas money. But God had other plans.

God’s Plan to Restore My Sanity

Halfway through the day my husband calls me and tells me he’s stranded on the highway because the van overheated. Praise God he was only 5 minutes away, but this was not what I envisioned for my day. With Joyce Meyer’s wisdom fresh in my mind, I went again what my flesh wanted to do, which was to scream and shout in my head “this is my day! mine! mine! mine! why is this happening to ME?!” and I decided to bring my husband a snack and water. In other words, I was obedient and I embraced God’s plan. My husband decided to wait because there was no telling when the tow truck would get there. He waited a little longer then asked me to pick him up and I did. The tow truck didn’t arrive for a few more hours. I started to feel sorry for myself that my day was ending up this way. I had plans to write in the afternoon, and read. But then I decided to stop my bad attitude and make the most of it. My husband and I hugged and we listened to the radio on the way to get our car and we all stopped to get some ice cream after they towed our car away. After all, what else could we do to make the situation better? What good would it have done to have a tantrum about it? But so often, I do that. And I’m sure you do too.

Better Than I Could Have Ever Planned

Because of this car incident, I had to drive my husband to work the next day and get everyone up super early. Honestly I wasn’t looking forward to this. But again, I did my best to accept it and make it easy by packing up a simple breakfast the night before. Since I was already 40 minutes away from home, and my husband only had a half day at his job, I wanted to find things to do till 1 PM. But it was only 7:30 A.M.! What on earth would we do all that time?

I decided to drive a little further down the highway and I saw a sign for “U-PICK Blueberries”. What on earth? I had to check it out. We drove down and I saw a lady outside of her house. She informed me that you pick the blueberries, and then she weighs them at the end and you pay cash. I told her I’d come back, and off I went to get cash at the market. I decided to get some kids some donuts , because, donuts. I also got stamps I needed and some cashback. And wouldn’t you know, outside the market was a nice table and chairs and a mailing box. I decided to write some cards I had been meaning to send, and I got to mail them right then and there. After that, we headed back to the blueberry patch and the kids got to fill up two pails for free and I got almost 3 lbs. We got to eat as we picked, it was early in the morning so it was nice weather, and afterward the kids got to play in her front yard and I talked with the lady who was so friendly. It was marvelous. After that, we went to the library and played with toys and checked out some books and movies, and then we stopped at the park and played. Then, we went to Burger King for lunch, and we picked up my husband and took him to the auto shop. The car wasn’t ready yet, so I decided to show him where Blueberry Bluff was. On our way there, we saw a familiar car! Our friends who live in that town. We texted them a hello and they invited us over. We had a nice chat and my kids got to play with her son. What a blessing! Then we went to get our car, and I thought, well, my husband has the kids now, I really need a haircut and I need to finish my Father’s day shopping, so I did!

God Knows

So let’s look at this again. My plan was to take it easy and play it safe. God’s plan was to take something horrible like car trouble, and bless us through it. He provided us with company, entertainment, time outside in nice weather (we had been cooped up a lot this week), new books from the library, the opportunity to pick fresh blueberries which has been on my bucket list forever, the right circumstances for a haircut, and the opportunity to get some cards written and sent. All of this wouldn’t have happened if my plan played out. God knew what I needed more than I did. God gave me desires in my heart that I may have never fulfilled myself. Like picking blueberries. Somehow, life often gets in the way of those things. I’m so glad this time things went God’s way.