Monday Meditations: Ways vs. Steps

Wow. Do you ever have one of those days where you knew it would be full, but you felt that it would run smoothly under control? And then it ends up being NOTHING like what you expected. You planned your ways, but someone (or Someone) else was directing your steps?

My day today was like that.

I expected a couple loads of laundry, at least one packed box, a shower, school for the boys, and the regular meals and kids thing.

Status update 12+ hours later? One full basket of clean/folded clothes upstairs on my bedroom floor. One overstuffed basket of clean clothes on my kitchen floor, half folded and the rest shoved on top (since it's two loads in one basket). A load of towels drying in the dyer -- to be left until morning, no, tomorrow afternoon. One half-packed box creating a narrow passageway with Matt's closet to our master bathroom. Two meager worksheets done with the boys. No shower. But we're all fed and still alive.

So what on earth happened in between that prevented me from finishimg what seemed to be a very accomplish-able To Do List? A lot. Much of which was unexpected. Here's a list:

-::thinking:: Ok, so I can't really remember my morning. All I know is that whatever happened, I ended up not getting Eden out of her crib until 11:30 for lunch. I usually get her at 10:45 or 11:00. :-P

-Quick jaunt to take some cookies to a dear friend (to give her the cookies AND to get us out of the house)

-"Naptime" which ended up being two hours of persistent disobedience including talking, whispering, laughing, sneaking out of bed, nakedness, overturned water bottles, silver permanent marker scribbles on my desk... Naturally mingled with not-so-perfect responses from me as I tried to hang on to loving discipline.

-Oh, and don't let me forget to mention that DURING naptime, a neighbor lady who is from Ivory Coast (and speaks very cool French) needed to use my phone/internet because hers was down, so she was here for about a half hour. Which only fueled the boys' disobedience since they thrive on being social (especially the oldest). And I had to battle my own dumb imaginations of what happens in the movies when you let someone you are only acquainted with into your home. Go away, Satan. I WILL be hospitable -- especially to a woman I have taken to Safeway a couple times, spoken with occasionally, and truly believe she is at least religious and moral.

-An phone call at 4:00pm from Lender Lady 2 saying we need this info NOW in order to keep an impossible timeline for closing within reach. An email at 4:06 from Lender Lady 1 "freaking out" about not having said information 5 days ago and shedding serious pessimism on our already twice extended close date. "Oh, and we need this info by 5pm." (It is incredible the amount of communication that has to happen between multiple parties when buying a home -- sheesh! It's no wonder we're confused about who needs what info, when, and how final!) So mucho phone calls to Lender Ladies and Contractor as well as a string of emails later, things were finalized at 5pm. Or was it 5:02?

-Meanwhile, once again, sweet happy Eden was left in her crib 30+ minutes longer than her usual afternoon nap. Picked up, put in her highchair, and given some juice so mommy could keep working on the real estate stuff. And break up the fight over the coloring book with a lecture to Eldest Son about his latest streak of selfishness. Not a perfectly delivered lecture either.

-A phone call at the start of the Coloring Book Fight from dear cookie friend thanking me for the cookies and asking if I could watch her son so she and her Hubby could go visit some friends with new babies. Of course! I would never say no to that unless I was seriously impeded! (Cookie Friend, you'd better NOT feel bad for asking after reading about my day. If I didn't want to or couldn't, I would have said no. I promise!)

-Throw some eggs and waffles on... knowing Hubz won't be home until 7:15 anyway.

-Feed Eden and myself quickly, leaving the boys to finish their dinner and Eden in the high chair while I go upstairs to wash the makeup (from yesterday) off my face and change out of my pjs (yes, at 5:50pm...they could pass as lounge clothes...) for Cookie Friend's arrival to drop off Cute Kid.

-Leave table uncleared and just GO OUTSIDE, get some fresh air, let the boys run a-muck, and wait for Cute Kid to arrive.

After that, things seemed to calm down a bit. Especially when Hubz got home and I pretty much washed my hands of my disobedient boys for the day. Praise the Lord for him! Three kids in bed, and some sweet time spent building Trios with Cute Kid. Why am I still up? Because I just finished scanning about 20 pages of real estate documents we had to sign and send back tonight. And I needed to debrief my brain with a Monday Mediations. Which is...

A man may plan his ways, but the Lord directs his steps.

The day is over (literally in 11 minutes). It was entirely imperfect both in how it did NOT go according to my plans and in how I responded to a few of the situations contained herein. But the day is over. God knew everything that would happen and how it would all happen in just a few short afternoon hours. From an earthly perspective, my day was out of control. But from a heavenly perspective, God was in total control of my day. Reminds me of an awesome quote my pastor gave yesterday:

It's not "Let go and let God." Grab hold and let God!

So if you ever have a day like mine, remember that God is in full control and knows the exact purposes He has for you in each situation that comes your way. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. -Proverbs 19:21 Your responsibility is to trust Him and keep taking steps of faith. Grab hold of Him and let Him lead you through it all!

I've heard a Word that we'll come out on the other side mature and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1). I'd say that's worth the fight...just gotta remember that in the moment!

So now that I've finished scanning and had my therapeutic debreifng while listening to old school All For One...GOODNIGHT!