Because Sometimes Things Don't Go According to Plan

The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

 

(Robert Burns, from "To A Mouse")

 

 

Robert Burns was right.  The best laid schemes (plans) of mice and men do gang aft agley (go oft awry).  Life doesn't always follow the script we have written in our minds.

 

And such was the case with Christmas 2014 here on this mountaintop.

 

The lists had been made.  Plans thought about and dreamed about for months were about to come to fruition.  Family was coming.  There was just a bit of cooking and baking and cleaning left to do.  It was Christmas week.

 

And then, without warning, on Monday night before Christmas, the stomach bug arrived.  And it visited not just one of us.  No, we both were afflicted.  From both directions, if you get my meaning.  Monday night was dreadful.

 

Tuesday morning arrived and we both looked a little green.  Not Christmas green.  More like Grinch green.  And so the phone call was made and the Greensboro Feasters delayed their arrival for a day so we could recover.

 

No cooking or baking or cleaning on Tuesday.  It was recovery day.  It was sleep all day and hope this stomach bug goes away day.

 

Then came Wednesday.  The morning to get up and get going.  To catch up on the cooking and baking and cleaning, and to await the arrival of the Greensboro Feasters, and then later in the day, the Florida Feasters. It was Christmas Eve!  An exciting day!

 

But, once again, things did not go according to plan.  I had my first coffee and my quiet time, as normal.  As I was getting up out of my chair, I bent over to pick up my tote bag so I could move it to the bedroom.  Big mistake.  In that moment of bending, I pulled a muscle in my lower back.  And that was the end of all the carefully made plans. 

 

Since that moment, I have spent my time in this chair or the bed, or shuffling back and forth between.  As I write, several days later, I'm much better.  Although getting up and down out of the chair or the bed remains difficult and painful, I'm making progress.  Very slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

 

These last six days have been, to say the very least, frustrating.  There might or might not have been a meltdown.  Or two or three.  There might or might not have been tears.

There might or might not have been a pity party.  Or two.  Or perhaps more.  And even yesterday, there might or might not have been some screaming on my part, to vent my frustration,  which might or might not have happened while Al went out to run some errands. 

 

Yes, we still had Christmas.  Yes, we opened gifts.  Yes, we still had Christmas dinner, which the DILs did a wonderful job of putting together.  Yes, the grandsons enjoyed playing together.  And yes, I spent the majority of my time sitting rather uncomfortably in a chair, alternating heat and ice, and wishing, wishing, wishing, that I hadn't bent over to pick up that tote bag!

 

It was great joy to have all my family under one roof.  To hear the grandsons playing together.  To listen to the conversations going on around me.  Would I have loved to be more of a participant and less a spectator?  Would I have loved to be up and about, snapping photos and documenting all the fun of the weekend with my new camera lens? Certainly I would have!  But sometimes things don't go according to plan.  This Christmas weekend was certainly one of those times.

 

Does it matter that I didn't personally cook the Christmas dinner?  Or that I didn't set the table?  Or that we used the paper plates instead of the Christmas china?  Or that we didn't do every single thing exactly the way I had originally planned it? Probably not.  At least, not to anyone other than me! Was it frustrating for me that all my carefully thought out plans didn't happen exactly as I had envisioned them?  Certainly it was.

I wish I could tell you that I handled this entire situation with joy and grace.  But that would be a lie.  I wish I could tell you that I just counted it all joy and smiled my way through every moment of Christmas weekend.  But I didn't.  I was not always gracious.  I was not always kind.  I was not always grateful. Truth be told, I was often cranky.  And moody.  And short-tempered.  And crotchety.  And.......how many other adjectives can I come up with to describe my not always pleasant self?

 

Is there a lesson for me in all this frustration?  Probably.  In fact, probably more than one lesson.  And as I continue to sit in this chair, I'm looking for the lessons I need to be learning from this experience.  The good news of it all is that this morning, while not fully recovered, I am much better.  And the good news is that, as the pain decreases and my mobility and attitude are improving, I can look at the whole situation and begin to understand the lessons to be learned.

As I ponder this experience, the Holy Spirit whispers a reminder to me to give thanks in all things.  I'm thankful the Scriptures don't tell us to feel thankful, because, quite frankly, what I'm feeling about this injury is anything but thankful!  But the Word of God tells me to give thanks.  And so, as an act of my will, I'm giving thanks.  It isn't easy, but that's what I'm doing.  And at the same time, I'm confessing those emotions that are anything but thankful.  That's lesson number one from this experience. 

"In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  (I Thessalonians 5: 18 NASB)

Lesson number two comes from Job.  You remember Job, that suffering fellow in the Old Testament.  No, he didn't pull a muscle in his back.  But he did have some problems.  Quite a long list of them.  So many that his wife advised him to curse God and die!  And how did Job respond?

"Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?"       (Job 2:10 NASB)

Lesson number 3 is the reminder, yet again, that I am not in control.  The reminder that everything doesn't need to be done my way. And the reminder that, when other people do things differently than I might have done them, it's ok. 

 

Finally, this experience is a reminder to me that everything happens for a reason.  And that the ultimate reason, in this experience as in all experiences, is that God is at work, for my good and for His glory.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  (Romans 8:28 NASB)

 

Painful.  Frustrating.  Helpless.  Those are just a few of the words I would use to describe these last days of 2014.  Certainly not according to my plan.  But through the pain and through the meltdowns and through the frustration, as I have cried out to the Lord, He has heard and answered.  And, whatever your challenges may be, I am confident He will do the same for you.

Because even when things don't go according to our plan, God is still God.  And He is still in control!


"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!"  (Philippians 4:4 NASB)
 



"This I know, that God is for me.  In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid."  (Psalm 56:9b-11 NASB)