Make big plans, but change your plans as time changes.--Marchant
Plans get you into things but you must work your way out.--Will Rogers
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.--John Lennon
"The Best Laid Plans" of the Hestermomma have been nothing more than just simple attempts at achieving a desired goal....and failing as of late. For some reason, my desired goal and God's desired goal haven't been in sinc lately. And as disappointed as I get when my "best laid plans" become "the worst laid plans," I take comfort in knowing that God is in control and that His plans always turn out for my good....somehow.
The girls and I set out Wednesday to spend a few days touring southwest Michigan with pending stops in St. Joseph, Paw Paw, and Battle Creek. These are all towns that "house" some of my dear ones, and I was so looking forward to seeing them all. Much to my husband's dismay, I characteristically try to cram every minute away seeing family members whom I miss so much. It is not that he doesn't want to share me.....he just feels that I overbook my schedule. And I do. I figure I will have plenty of time to recover from it when I get home. I just want to see everybody.
The ride up there was a breeze. My "pretty sneaky sis" always complains about the drive. But I have found it not to be that bad. Twenty minutes from our destination, Hopie says from the back seat, "It's hot in here." And as quickly as I adjusted the temp in the truck, I heard her yell, "I am going to be sick!" Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, she grabbed a nearby empty Target bag (gotta love Target!) and "deposited" her lunch from Subway and her dessert from DQ. At 70mph, I kept my hands at "10 and 2" and remained calm, cool, and collected.....but completely dumbfounded.
As descriptive as I naturally am, I won't go into the details of what happened next except to say that it happened again and again and again....so many times, I lost count. I could not subject the first stop of our Southwest Michigan tour to this illness, especially because it was my sister's house.... home of the absolutely precious niece "Izzy-B" and my equally adored nephew Michael. Nobody needs the flu, and that includes babies under the age of 11 months. So, Hopie and I checked into a nearby Holiday Inn Express (with a beautiful gray view of Lake Michigan) and spent the next two days held up there. We left Faith with the family as she seemed pretty bug-free.
I would have it no other way than to be by my baby's side when she was as sick as she was. Clearly, she felt as much disappointment as I did. She missed out on things she was really looking forward to as well.....like building forts out of blankets with her cousin Michael in the basement, playing with Izzy-B, eating Kellogg's pop-tarts for breakfast, etc. She kept telling me how sorry she was....which made me feel even worse about the situation. She would say, "I know how much you were looking forward to..." I couldn't argue with those words, but I did share this with her: "Even though you were so sick, I still had a great time with you. And I am really glad we got to spend some time together, just me and you."
In situations like these, you always think about what God might want you to learn from it. Obviously, He is showing me lately that I rely too much on "my plans" and don't look too hard for what "His plans" might be in the grand scheme of things. I am really trying to focus on looking at the God-good that comes out in all of my so-called "trials." There is always plenty of that to go around. I am after all, God's child. :)
PS- Hopie did a lot of sleeping in the hotel room. My sister was at her house taking care of the rest of the kids, while I handled the sick one. So...my amount of adult interaction was low....really low. When the maid came in to change the towels, I just about grabbed her and begged her to stay. I tried to ask her some questions to keep her engaged.... maybe explain to her why there was a strange smell in our room. (Remember, I told you I had lost count on Hopie's flu-capades.) I think her supervisor was nearby, otherwise, I could have talked her ear off. I even thought about asking her if she needed any help cleaning up in the next room. Seriously......
PPS-We never did make it to our other pending stops. Just couldn't subject anybody to this nasty flu bug. I was missing my family long before we made the trek there. It is strange to return home with that ache unaltered and still very present.
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