James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
This passage has been running through my brain frequently during the last several months. So many changes. Make a plan, insert some drama, change the plan, throw out the plan. . . God is definitely committed to developing a real dependence upon Him and His plan, rather than my self-sufficiency and my plans!
In this passage, and in my life right now, “the right thing to do” is to listen to the Lord, and be willing to change my plans and my ideas without worrying, complaining, or feeling like a failure. Which brings me to Day 2 of our journey. . .
We left Pendleton at about 10:30 a.m. The decision to not drug the animals was a complete success! There was some ‘talking meowing’ but only occasionally. Kioni slept peacefully in her spot, and the cats actually slept. There was some construction on I-84 and Kioni needed a good walk, so we didn’t make it to Meridian until 2:30 p.m. — and then we realized that we are in the Mountain Time Zone, so it was 3:30! I started having chest pain again this early afternoon, so we decided to stay here in Meridian tonight, rather than try to drive 3 or 4 more hours and stay at another hotel. Such gracious friends, such wonderful hospitality.
I’m struggling with feeling “behind” because our intent was to stay here last night rather than tonight. However, the “right thing to do” in this instance is to listen to my body signals that I need to stop and rest, rather than stubbornly and “arrogantly” (see verse 16 above) fight them. God made my body; God made time; God made meowing kitties and dogs that need a walk. He is Sovereign; none of these events are in the least bit a surprise to Him.
So, the “right thing to do” is to submit to reality, tell myself the truth that I am not a failure and this unplanned stop is perfectly ok. We plan (and I say that tongue-in-cheek) to leave early in the morning, and then see how far we get. . .
Thank you for the prayers and well-wishes; they mean so much! Love y’all (practicing for VA)
Plea for Grace 