I used to LOVE Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The thing I hate about it lately is that, when my students are completely jamming out in their heads somewhere instead of listening to me, they have no idea what I mean when I say, “Bueller? Bueller?” They just tilt their heads and look at me like my dog does when she’s confronted by a cricket. What is this thing of which you speak? One of the best lines in the movie is when Ferris breaks the fourth wall and says to the audience, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
This week, my family is feeling that whole, “Life moves pretty fast” thing. If you checked out the blog last week, you saw where Sweet Freedom with a Side of Peach Cobbler is available now. In my little snippet, I talked about how I laid out all of my plans and was ready to move on from high school to college, but God had other ideas. Boy, did He ever get my attention. And change my life for the better forever. I cringe to think where my imperfect plans would have taken me.
This week, I had my all laid out. See, I’m on a deadline. And I’m running a few days behind my own schedule in it. This was to be catch-up week. At the same time, my sister-in-law was making her own plans. My precious nephew was due August 5, and my brother and his small family were busy working toward that date, making plans for this week… Until sweet Sammy decided he was ready to come into the world on Monday. One month early. Before the nursery was totally ready. Before anybody had their minds wrapped around new baby coming.
Sammy is a precious teeny tiny little bundle of baby. He weighed in so small, he looks like a baby doll. And, he decided not to eat. That’s typical of preemies and nothing to worry about, but it also meant he couldn’t come home and might possibly need a feeding tube. Prayer warriors? We lined them up and–God bless them beyond their comprehension, please–they prayed. Just an hour or so after the doctor said, “We’ll probably insert a feeding tube tonight,” Sammy started to eat. And eat. And eat. Because God is good. Oh, so good. I sang his praises all morning.
But I digress. (As usual.) When my brother came by the house on Sunday afternoon to get an envelope and a stamp, we had no idea where they’d be 24 hours later, that all of our best laid plans for this week and for August 5 were already swirling in the drain. That should be unsettling, but really, it’s not. Know why? Because of Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)–“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Good or bad, God’s got a plan. It may not be ours. There may be heartache instead of joy. There may be joy early or joy delayed. It may totally stink at the time, but He’s in charge. When it all makes no sense, when the world spirals and we say what, I have to lean on something Daniel said in 2:28, “There is a God in heaven…” Always. And He knows. Oh, how He knows.
-JB
Jen says
I’m so glad sweet Sammy has finally gotten his appetite! I’ve been praying lots for the book in addition to the baby, so hopefully you’ll be singing His praises soon for answered prayers there, too. 🙂