Perfect We're Not

Well...I should be packing, but I'm not. I was motivated to write a blog post about packing after reading Big Nanny's, but it may or may not happen.

I know sometimes perceptions can be wrong. I hope you don't think our family is perfect and I would especially think that's hard to believe if you even randomly check this blog.

This past week has not gone as expected. Derek's last day of work until January 4th was December 23rd. This was working perfectly for my mission trip, because the kids go back to school on the 4th.

But Derek was on the phone most of Christmas Eve. He spent most of Saturday on the phone. He was on the phone several hours yesterday. He has been on the phone for about 12 hours today...seriously and he's not done! My kids have played more than the recommended amount of wii and ds. They have watched more tv than anyone would recommend. Elizabeth even decided to take my travel size shaving cream and paint the bathroom wall. I was not only frustrated because I didn't have travel size shaving cream, but because now my bathroom wall is messed up.

Yesterday morning, Derek decided to take down one of those 3M sticky things that aren't supposed to leave a mark. Well, it left a mark alright. It tore the drywall right off. Whether it was user error or faulty product, I don't know. I was irritated Sunday morning. Why did Derek have to take it off right then...before church...before my trip...and now there's a big spot of exposed drywall on my painted wall. There's nothing else to say except, bless Derek's heart, he didn't say anything...he just went and got the spackle out of the garage and started to patch the spot. I wanted to scream...not sure why, just feeling all the stress of trying to wrap everything up before you leave town for 10 days.

This post is pretty random, but it is proof that life never goes as planned. This wasn't how I wanted my last week before my trip to be. We were supposed to go to the movies, go to Chuck E. Cheese, just hang out together as a family. Instead we are scattered, stretched and stressed! But we're still family and we'll stick together through it all.

I'm reading a book called You Were Born for This. He talks about how opportunities come along when we're not even thinking about them. They are not always convenient, but we have to decide whether to be available for God to work through us. If we're not, He'll find someone else or another way. A friend gave me this book to prepare for Africa and while I may have ideas of what I think God is going to do, I'm pretty sure that He has a different plan. He always does and His is always so much better. So, I'll leave a house with kids that have had too much screen time, a bathroom with shaving cream paint and a nice big white patch of spackle on my gold wall...but you know what, it doesn't matter. I'm leaving a husband who's dedicated to his job and three kids that I love to pieces to go and do what God has called me to do...minister to others across the world.

In the end, God's plans are perfect even if they include shaving cream and spackle!

In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9