I Hate Change

I hate change. Wait, let me clarify! I hate change when I don’t want things to change. Today was a day of changes - some good and some well.......annoying.

This morning I got up before everyone else and had a wonderful quiet morning. I spent a lot of the time just thinking about today and what had to be accomplished. The plan was to make breakfast (big as usual), take Bub to sign up for football, and head to mom’s house for a family workday for her mother’s day gift. It looked like a perfect plan. The plan was happening without a hitch – I was even ahead of schedule.

Then it happened; the first few sprinkles of rain. Was this going to cancel the whole work day? What was going to happen when my siblings saw the rain? Would the rain last all day? Angie and I decided to just continue with the master plan of heading to moms for the work day.

As I headed to my mother's house to drop off the tiller that we would be using today, I got the phone call I somehow knew was coming, yet didn’t want to get. Angie called to tell me that my sister had called and the workday was being rescheduled. That meant no work day, which is not the end of the world, but there are a lot more changes than just that. The meat for the barbeque was thawed and marinating. The baking was mostly done with the last of the rolls rising. Potatoes and eggs were boiled and ready to be made into a yummy salad. It was perfect, and yet somehow, a little water changed all of that.

The new plan you ask? All food is to be put on hold and the workday is to be moved to next Saturday. There are several problems with this “new” plan. Next weekend, only about half of the family is available. I am getting ready to leave on a business trip next Sunday as soon as church is over so I need to use Saturday to make sure I am totally ready. Then there is the weather. With Northwest weather being what it is, there is no guarantee that next weekend will be any better than this one is. And finally, what do we do with ALL THIS FOOD.

On a dime my day was turned upside down, so I did what any self respecting person that doesn’t want to deal with a specific change would do. I decided to NOT change. My family (me, wife, kids) are going to mom’s house and we are going to do some of the “fun” work. Since no one will be there to challenge us, we get to choose what we want to do and next week everyone else can do the “grunt” work. Ha ha ha. As for the food, my mother, thinking on her feet again, called everyone and scheduled a bbq for tomorrow after church since it is supposed to be nice again.

All of this brings to mind something I heard someone say earlier this week. The person, talking about making plans said something like “I have learned to not make plans because as soon as I do, God changes them.” That feels true but I don’t think it really is. Psalms 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.“ I have heard people say that God doesn’t grant you your heart's wishes, but rather puts desires into your heart that align with his desire for your life.

To be honest, my desire today had nothing to do with doing yard work. I spent the better part of yesterday doing that around my house. If I really wanted to do more yard work, I would start on the “list” for our back yard. My desire also did not have to do with wanting to spend time with my brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. Since the work day was being rescheduled, I could work with them on the new day. My desire really was to honor my mother. To physically do for her, what she could not do for herself. To give her the joy of watching me and my family work and then have the end result of jobs completed to her specification/satisfaction. I believe God has put the desire in my heart to honor my mother.

So today I will not change. I will hold fast to what I committed to do. I will resist the urge to lie on the couch and watch TV and take a nap. I will honor my Heavenly Father by honoring my earthly mother.

Oh look at that. As I finished writing this post, the sun has come out. Ha ha ha. I love it when a plan comes together.