Plans ...

Remember when we were young ... hanging out with friends ... doing whatever young people do.  For us, back in the day when there were only three network channels on the television ... no computers ... no video games ... no cell phones ... faced with a whole day with nothing but our imagination to guide us ... we would take a walk ... go to the mall ... congregate in the McDonald's parking lot ...

... and try to figure out what to do next ... that would be fun & interesting.

Not much has changed ... well, except for all of the distractions ... and the locations ...

We still spend a lot of time trying to figure out what to do next ... that will be fun & interesting ... and we talk it over with our friends ...

Anyway, we would spend all day out in the neighborhood & decide that the best plan was for everyone to sleep over at one house or another ... an all-nighter of a-plottn' & a-plannin' ...

At home, though, our parents had "other" plans ... for us.  So in the end ... we would do what they had planned instead of what we cooked up on our own.

You know, that's one of the reasons we have parents ... to teach us important lessons ... early on ... so that we don't get crossed up later in life.

The lesson here was simple: Don't make plans without checking them out at home first.

Lesson learned ... NOT!

Somehow we don't seem to learn some of those lessons ... the first time ... the second time ... the one-hundred-millionth time ...

Last week I had a great visit with a friend that I haven't seen in quite sometime ... think it might have even been a year ... time sure does fly ... when you're ... busy.

She said, "Last time we talked you were launching your consulting company ... tell me what's you've been doing the past year."

My jaw dropped.  I just stared at her.  Then I said, "You REALLY want to know what I've been doing for the past year?!?!" 

Amazing. Truth is, I know that she really DID want to know all about it.  *sigh*

Where to start.

A year or so ago ... I embarked on a new adventure.  I had given it a lot of thought.  I had prayed about it.  And I had plan.  I even wrote it down.

And I started working that plan ... and it was working!

Then God said, "Hey, MJ!  Go over there. Do that. I know you have a plan but, guess what?!?!  I have OTHER plans for you!"

You see, even though I had checked with Him when I started down the new path ... I got so caught up in the journey that I forgot to check with Him along the way.  Of course, once He pointed out that "detour" sign over there, I knew there was no doubt that I was going to take it.

That's one lesson I HAVE learned ... that whatever God has planned for me is going to be far more amazing than anything I could ever dream up on my own ... even with the help of my friends!

So for about an hour, I caught her up on all that had been going on with me.  The conversation was peppered with ... oh, and this happened ... yeah, well, that's another story ... still she got the overview ... the big picture ...

Then it was her turn.  She began to share what was going on with her.  She had been making progress, too. 

And, yep, she had made a plan!

Hers was a story of an amazing few days she spent in dialogue with her best friend, God.  She shared what was in her heart & asked for His direction. 

He didn't let her down.

At the end of her sojourn, she had a plan ... a written plan ... with His fingerprints all over it.

She shared it with others who are close to her.  And then she started putting it into play.  And things were coming along nicely.  Maybe a little slower than she would have liked ... we are always in such a hurry to get where we are going ... after all ...

God is never in a hurry.

Then life started getting in the way ... of her plan ... she had roadblocks ... distractions ... maybe even a setback or two.  I am not sure because she was giving me the Reader's Digest version, too. 

Still, somehow, things weren't going ... according to HER plan ...

Imagine that!

So she has had to go back ... to regroup ... to say, "Hey, God, I told you what I wanted to do & you said sure go ahead ... so why the delay?!?!"

... and God is shaking  His head ... at her ... at me ... and He is smiling ...the "original" smile that lights up the universe ...

*sigh* ... smiles that light up the universe ... another lesson learned ... another story ...

Sure.  He LIKES our plans.  He even inspired the crafting of them. 

But no matter how hard we try ... or how many times we ask Him ... there's simply no way that we can get it just right ... without any changes ... life doesn't work that way.

We make our plans ... go about our business ... making the choices that need to be made ... to move forward. 

Heck, we can even make GOOD choices ... the RIGHT choices ... and, still, things don't turn out the way we planned.

That's because life always involves other people.  It's all about relationships.  And those other people ... they have plans, too.  And they also get to make their own choices. 

And not everyone checks in to see if their plans are lined up with His plans.

So there we are ... traveling down our road ... with our compass & our map ... our plan securely in place ... when suddenly we encounter a scarecrow ... or a lion ... or a tin man ...

That wasn't really part of our plan ... it wasn't really part of their plans, either ...

And next thing you know ... our plans ... collide with their plans ... and that's when His plan begins to unfold ...

www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com
(c) Mary Jane Sawyer, 2010

Confusion ...

Today really couldn't be as disrupted or confusing as yesterday, right?!?!

Wrong.

Yesterday I started the morning with a clear plan in mind.  I was going to relocate the wireless box & modem box so that I could move Jessi's computer into what is ultimately going to be her "new" bedroom. 

Simple enough.

Once I got it all undone ... then redone.  I turned on her computer.  Oops.  No connection to the internet.  So I wandered back into the den and found that there was no wireless connection any more either. 

After about an hour of plugging and unplugging ... I decided to just put it all back the way it was before ... cuz it works ... so that I could get on with the very SPECIFIC blog I intended to write & post before tackling the other business of the day.

So I did that.  Still no connection.  Can't get online at my house via hardwire or wireless from any point in the house now.  Sheesh!

Then it crossed my mind ... a revelation ... that blog I was going to write ... well, it simply wasn't what I was supposed to do today. 

Ok, God.  I get it.  I will keep those thoughts to myself a little longer.

Headed over to the coffee shop to check my email before heading down to meet a friend for lunch.  That wasn't in my plan either.  But he called.  Said he wanted to talk.  And I couldn't work from home anyway.

All of my horoscope messages ... that I found in my inbox(es) when I hopped on line at the coffee shop confirmed what I already knew ... that it just wasn't going to be a productive day ... at least not in the ways I had planned.

Shared it all on Facebook then went on my way:

CANCER -- You are challenged to figure out what to do today cuz your natural rhythm is disrupted by something that is completely out of your control. Naturally, your positive attitude can help, but you must settle for less comfort than you normally prefer. Keep in mind that whatever occurs now is a small part of the larger shift that will take months to process.  Yesterday at 10:21am

So I posted a comment:

Ha ha ... came to coffee shop to get online since the attempt to re-arrange computers & wireless connection at home this a.m. has left me totally DISCONNECTED ... and my horoscope was waiting in my inbox! 

Yesterday at 10:22am ·

Then another after reading my horoscope in the newspaper:

Like the one in the newspaper better - CANCER: Good fortune is flowing to you, perhaps because of all of the good will radiating out of you. All of the information & resources you need & want will be at your fingertips.... LOL Now if I co...uld just make them work together! 

Yesterday at 10:24am

 

And still another after finding a "different' horoscope in another email:

 

ok...ok...enough already ... here's another horoscope in my OTHER inbox for today: CANCER:  You may be wishing you could do things the old-fashioned way, especially when technological assistance makes things more difficult.

 

After going through my totally disjointed day ... full of surprises at every turn ... and blindsides ... I met a friend for dinner & a chat.  Somehow that was hard to get to as well.  Things just kept cropping up.

 

At one point she looked across the table and said, "So, Mary Jane, do you really just make up your mind what you want to do ... and go do it?"

 

I had to laugh.  Outloud.  Yeah, right. That's exactly how my life goes.  It's really that simple.

 

This morning, I got up for my early morning walk with my "accountability" partner ... I glanced at the clock ... it was :30 so I was right on time.  Bright stars ... cool crisp morning. 

 

Still I had a premonition of sorts.  A little tightness in the neck.  Something just didn't feel right.  It crossed my mind that she might not join me this morning ... because of the challenges of her week so far ... and that was going to be ok.

 

I got to the corner and waited.  I walked a little ways in her direction and encountered another walker.  She said she goes to work very early ... she works at a bakery ... and likes to walk before she clocks in. Her pattern was to walk from one stop light to the next and back again ... about six times.  She had figured out somehow that that was a measurable distance for her.

 

I joined her on a couple of passes.  It was nice.  I had left my phone at home so after a bit, I decided to give it up until the next time.  When I returned to the house, I checked my phone for the text message that I was sure would be there ... the one that said "sorry."

 

Imagine my surprise when all I found there was the time ... 5:11 a.m.

 

I had been hanging out on the corner ... waiting on my friend ... an hour early ... walking with a stranger ...

 

Still no internet. Another unexpected phone call.  Another visit to the coffee shop. 

 

Almost noon now and again today, nothing has gone as planned.

 

Somewhere along the way God whispered ... it's ok, Mary Jane ... don't worry about things you can't control ... don't you see it's my way of getting your attention ... of bringing you to the places where you can do the things I want you to do ... instead of worrying about your plan ...

 

... it's really that simple.

 

 

http://www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com/

(C) Mary Jane Sawyer, 2010