Mistakes? (07/26/2024)

Yesterday didn’t turn out as I’d planned. In the morning, I looked through the freezer, found a baggie of frozen chicken, decided to make fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. I invited my daughter and grandson to join us. Then about 5 p.m., I took the baggie out of the frig and began to prep the meat only to find out that I was mistaken about its contents. It wasn’t chicken breasts, as I’d thought, but thighs with the bone in. There simply wasn’t enough meat for four nor were thighs their preferred chicken pieces. So, I found my husband, explained my mistake and suggested we go out for a bite instead.

We called my daughter, told her of the change in plans and made arrangements to pick her and my grandson up for dinner at 6. We were on schedule, looking forward to dinner out together. We even discussed our favorite entrees at the restaurant to which we were headed. When we arrived and saw an empty parking lot and dark restaurant, we knew I’d made my second mistake of the day.

We huddled in consultation and decided upon a different eatery. My husband drove as we planned out loud what we’d order. Ordering went well, we thought. But when the tray came to our table, the ice cream treat we’d ordered for “later” was included. Did we eat our main dish and let the ice cream melt or eat the ice cream and let the main dish get cold. We tried to eat both as if the ice cream treat was a second side.

As we headed out, I remembered that my favorite custard flavor is Georgia Peach and my grandson and I had spotted frozen containers of it in the freezer by the order counter. So, we stopped and picked up a few cartons of that on our way to the car. As I sat in the front seat with my Georgia Peach custard, I had to smile. Three mistakes in a row is a real trend, but truth was, there was still good happening. Mistakes happen, and sometimes, I said to myself with a smile, they aren’t really mistakes, they’re redirecting events.

In my lifetime, I have had what I would consider a plethora of “redirecting events.” I had my plans, then my plans were changed by outside forces or close up necessities. For example, I’d planned to finish my college early on, but multiple family moves postponed that until I was 38. And when I was able to return, it led me to a totally different field and opportunities.  I’d planned to have several children, but cancer derailed that. But once my three children were all in school, I found I had time to do youth ministry and faith formation. The list goes on, so I won’t bore you with it.

Redirecting events are divine providence. They aren’t what we “ordered” or expected, but they are what we need. They are very real incidences of the LORD’s loving grace at work in our lives to help us on our way to becoming. It is good to spend time looking at our lives and recognizing the LORD’s blessing hand in the background of what we deemed at the time were mistakes or plans gone awry.

As we continue our spiritual journeys in this life, may we recognize the LORD’s redirecting events. May we remain open to where the LORD is trying to lead us and be willing to set down what we’d planned. And may we know that when things don’t work out as we’d planned, it might not be so much a mistake on our part as a new beginning from the LORD.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.