August, like the rest of the summer, was gone in a blink! September and fall seemed to arrive before my eyes and before I’m ready for it. There was so much on my summer to-do list that never got done. I was going to work paint the dining room furniture that I didn’t paint last summer, sand and paint my patio chairs that I didn’t do last summer, have the house trim painted that I didn’t get done last summer, figure out what I was doing last summer when all of this didn’t get done! I was also going to organize my office and plan trainings for the upcoming year of BSF since I’m taking over as the teaching leader. Now I did get this done but then I destroyed the office yesterday because I decided to paint the room after I had it all set up and ready to go! (I hung the pictures crooked to begin with so it was a good excuse to take it all done.) Some people can just brush off those to-do list and go on living a carefree life. I, unfortunately, am not one of those people. I get extreme pleasure at making a list and even more pleasure and crossing things off that list. When I have a list that isn’t getting crossed off quickly I can feel my chest start to tighten and the anxiety start to bubble up. Here is the thing that I am slowly figuring out though. Usually my list have nothing to do with the daily functions in my life. In fact, they usually have nothing to do with the things that I actually need to get done! So my dining room table needs painted…….big deal. We can still sit around it for a big family meal and none of my guest even notice. My chairs on the patio can still be a place to sit with my husband and share a glass of wine and have deep conversations about our life struggles. As far as the organizing and prepping for BSF, yes that should have been at the top of my list. Then again, that was MY list, not God’s. He had other plans for me this summer. Plan’s for me to hang and mend my relationship with my son. Plan’s for me to go to a fabulous wedding of some adopted family and see a rare eclipse. Plan’s to be able to spend the only week off school that Maddie had in one of our favorite cities, Nashville. None of these would I change……..well maybe the reason why Sam and I got to spend so much time together, but it was a time I will cherish
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I need the signabove! Actually I need to tattoo it on my forehead backwards so I can see it in the mirror every time I look at myself. As I type this, I’m clinging to the last portion of the sign. “Everywhere I go, I know my God is with me!” This is a truth that I try to cling to every day. Most days I fail. Today is one of those. I won’t go into much detail but it all has to do with consequences. Here is the thing, regardless of how much God loves me and you, that doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for our actions. We can leave a wild and crazy life and get on a path that is good, but that life sometimes sneaks back up on us when we least expect it. Wham, right up side the head! In fact, most times, because of His love, we need to be disciplined in order to change our head as well as our heart attitude. Don’t get me wrong here, I do believe that people can change and be forgiven for their past transgressions. I know it to be true and I have seen it with my own eyes. That is the pure picture of Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s grace to all who believe. However, that doesn’t mean that we get away with sin scott free. Relationships may be forever changed by our actions, trust of people we love lost, and heartbreak experienced by those we love. But, “I am a child of the King, that makes me royalty, mighty like a warrior, brave as can be, everywhere I go I know my God is with me!
