The Best Laid Plans

The best laid plans...... are best left to God, us mice and men "miss it".

OK, so here is what we had planned for today: Go to church and pick up Carey from the midhigh youth overnight. Catch the BlueLine (metro train) and go the the Oregon Zoo in Portland.

AND here's what happened: Holly cried, "Daddy, please let me go to Sunday school. I want to learn there!" So, Doug changed his clothes and we went to church.

Doug and I sat together in worship and were filled with the Spirit. We both realized how much we needed to be there. Just last night Doug told me how much he missed taking communion (we hadn't celebrated the Lord's Supper since before we left). God brought us to the place we needed to be to receive that blessing. Praise be to God!

It was a good morning, and a day of rest.We did not get on the BlueLine and go to the zoo. As it turned out, Carey hadn't slept at all (I'm not suprised) and she really needed to just go home and sleep. So we went home, had the frito pie we had been craving, watched TV, took naps, and went to eat out. Just what we needed!

The best laid plans really are laid by the Master Planner!

In the Creator's hands

" through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that had been made"

John 1:3

This past week (weeks) we have been busy making costumes. We wanted to make them with things we had here at home, so we used newspapers and flour paste to make paper mache masks, cardboard and eggcartons to make dragon and warrior outfits, and lots of paint and hot glue to put them all together. The kitchen has been a disaster, but the creative juices were flowing, so we left it a mess. They turned out FANTASTIC! We walked around the neighborhood last night and basked in the glow of jack-o-lanterns and praise for what a great job we had done on our costumes. And afterward we rested......and PIGGED out on the kid's unwanted Twizzlers.

ONE thing came to mind after this experience:

God is an awesome creator!

1. We made things out of a few recyclables and they are good for a night or two. He made all things and they are GOOD for always.

2. We made things that cover up our outsides, so we can pretend to be something we're not. He made us from the inside out and knows who we really ARE!

3. We rested, then overindulged. He rested and blessed.

I am writing this down not so much as to highlight that our ways are not His ways, but because I have seen a glimpse of what it means to be created in His image. We have the desire to create something that brings us joy. And we have Him to thank for that....and the chocolate candy bars. We can't forget to thank Him for those either.