A Day to Eat My Words

Today was a day to 'eat my words' :o(

Because my husband works shifts, I like to have supper ready for us to eat about 5:30 in the afternoon which enables the 3 of us to read the Bible afterwards and have a lively discussion and still have plenty of time in the evening.

Today, my son and I went to visit our friend who suffered a stroke last summer and is living in a Seniors' Home. In my mind, I thought I had it all planned out that we would visit for about an hour and then do some errands, get gas and pick up my prescription on the way home.

I should have learned by now that my plans are not necessarily God's plans!

After being there about an hour and saying that it was time to get moving, our friend let us know that he really wanted us to stay longer if we could.

I told him we'd stay a bit longer and when the time came, again he let us know how sorry he was to see us go. I just hated saying that we really should go, so we sat back down and stayed longer.

By the time we did leave, it was already late enough that I should have driven straight home and just forgotten the errands and gas and gone them all after supper! But, I didn't :o(

Instead, I still went to get the gas and do the few errands before picking up the prescription and ended up sort of wandering about in these places more than I had intended.

By the time I arrived home, it was already the time we usually are sitting down and eating :o(

Fortunately, my husband was not the least bit perturbed and the salmon fillets microwaved in a tad of margarine, lemon juice and some lemon pepper and steamed rice were very quick to make, and a can of corn was very easy to open and heat.

Definitely not my most thought-out meal and not the way I prefer to do things. And after all my desire and attempt to be a conscientious keeper at home, not the best demonstration of it.

I guess in the back of my mind, I'm trying to be conscious of how to tell the difference between knowing when the it's the Lord Himself who wants me to stay longer and visit with someone who is somewhat home-bound and when it's just me not being firm enough about other things that I really must attend to.

Suggestions or experiences of others would be much appreciated :o)

In this particular case, I know that everything would have worked out more smoothly if I had just realized that it was the Lord's will for us to stay longer to visit and that for whatever reason He wanted me to abandon my scheduled plans and do them after supper when it was more convenient.

May I be more in 'tune' with His choices next time!!

UPDATE - FRIDAY ~ As I've thought about it, the simple solution would have been to do my other errands in the morning, leaving only the visit for the afternoon :o) Sometimes the most obvious isn't what I do :o)