Life never seems to go the way we plan. Every time things appear to be going along as planned, my husband and I look at each other questioningly and say, "surely it can't be this easy...where's the catch?". We have learned to expect the unexpected; we have learned that in our lives, in our marriage, God has allowed us to be continually tested. God knows that we're pretty thick-headed, so He keeps at us and uses some pretty unexpected methods in order to open our eyes and our hearts to Him. Often times it's a painful process and sometimes it takes us years to walk through, but I hold to the promise in Psalm 30:5 "...weeping may remain for a night, but joy comes in the morning."
Last night we were reminded once again to our plans, even the small, seemingly insignificant ones, never quite go the way we expect. On Thursday nights during the school year our older boys participate in the AWANA program at our church. They LOVE it and we love that they are learning God's word in a fun way along with their friends. We also love, selfishly, the two hours each week that they're there and we just have one child to care for. It has become our date night of sorts...going out to dinner with one child is so much easy than three! Each week we go to the same little Mexican restaurant, and we love it because we can sit outside and if Jude gets loud (which an hour before bedtime that tends to happen quite a bit) we're not bothering anyone; usually we are the only ones out there. Last night was the last AWANA night before summer break, therefore it was our last Thursday date night before summer. Due to poor planning on my part, Jude's nap schedule was slightly disrupted and by the time I was able to put him in bed, he decided he wanted no part of it. To get to the point, Jude didn't end up falling asleep until 4:30 yesterday afternoon. I had to wake him at 5:45 to get the boys to church; the screaming started at that point and continued as I dropped the boys off and we headed to our restaurant. Walking into a crowded restaurant with a less than pleasant child tends to put me on edge; I don't enjoy listening to crying and I never want to subject innocent restaurant goers to crying either. We asked to be seated outside and it was just my luck that outside (as well as inside) was packed with people...fantastic. Determined to make our date night work, we were seated and attempted to strap Jude into his highchair. The only thing that would make the screaming stop was allowing him to play the bowl of salsa the server had brought to the table, obviously the salsa spilled all over the place. I took him out of the highchair and did my best to entertain him while we ordered dinner and attempted to at least appear normal. Our food came and the screaming got louder. I stood, bounced, sang, pointed out the paintings on the walls. It worked and I sat down with him in my lap...peace...and then...it was like he erupted. There was vomit all over me, all over him, all over the floor. Our date was over. I headed for the closest exit trying to disguise my vomit covered body by holding his vomit covered body close; my husband packed up, cleaned up and paid. As we ate our dinner out Styrofoam take-out containers later last night, it again reminded me that life is so uncertain; it's how we respond to the uncertainty that attests to who we are inside.
Paul writes in Philippians 4:12-13, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."
Have you learned the secret of being content in any and every situation? When life just doesn't go as planned what is your response? Look to Him who is more than willing and able to give you the strength to get through the unexpected.
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