Saturday's With The Family-- Planning ahead

James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will^[g] go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

I’m a planner. I like to plan things. If I don’t know what’s going on a few days or weeks down the road, I get antsy.

My middle daughter is the same way. She has to know when everything is going to happen. Honestly, it does get tiring planning so far ahead so she won’t meltdown.

Yesterday, I took my girls on a little shopping trip. The whole way there, they kept asking where we were going first, then what… then what… then what!

Finally I told them, “Girls, let’s just not plan. We’ll end up where we end up. Let’s have an adventure.”

We did.

And it was fun.

It was nice to have a few hours without a strict plan.

I need that more often.

I have an internet friend named Nicole. She was pregnant and planning for her fifth baby: a boy. They could tell from the first ultrasound that something was wrong.

Like all of us would, she planned.

She went to the best hospital and stayed in the Ronald McDonald house (not in TN. They live in Canada.). She looked toward the future, and though it looked rough for her little boy, she stayed strong. Nicole took pictures of her baby belly, excited about how much her little man was growing. They were going to love him no matter what.

A few days ago, Nicole’s family learned all too well about the ‘vapor’ in the scripture above. Nicole was found dead in her room. The baby didn’t make it either. The medical examiner did an autopsy, but so far no cause of death. Nicole was 37.

We were due date buddies. My youngest child and her forth were both due in July 2010. Please pray for her family. She has 4 other children (one turned 3 on the day his mama died). It’s sad all around. The daddy is trying the best he can, but I know they could use prayers.

We can plan all we want, but when its time, it’s time. Enjoy life. Enjoy the moment. Take time to do something without planning ahead. And don’t hold grudges because you never know when it’ll be the last time you see someone. 

~Kelly