The Best Laid Plans

A friend and I decided to use free air tickets to escape for a few days to her vacation home in Florida. We started off Monday morning with our plans full of "nothing in particular" and spent an enjoyable lunch at Downtown Disney, dessert at Ghirardelli's, a trip to Home Depot and Publix, dinner at the Town Tavern, and wrapped up our evening with a light-hearted movie. We didn't have to listen to anyone complain about the menu, cut anyone else's meat, or buy/parcel out 15 different movie snacks.

On Tuesday morning my friend got a call from her college-aged son letting her know that he had taken her 13 year-old son to the emergency room with a rather serious but non-lethal injury, incurred while he was playing a solo game of "Ninja Warrior" with a brand new kitchen knife and a pizza box. We waited to hear the outcome of the ER visit while riding bicycles around the neighborhood and picking up some overpriced but delicious frozen drinks. During this time my friend asked me if I thought she was a "bad mom" for not wanting to go home. Because she is a very good friend, I replied without hesitation, "Yes", and then went on to say that I was also a "bad mom" because I would have felt the same way had it been my child. We both knew that our little trip was over, since her husband was away on a business trip and her college-aged son also mentioned that he wasn't feeling well and had a 103.7 fever, and we made plans for our return.

Since I had the rest of the week off, I decided to lavish this "found time" on my formerly abandoned children. We made a trip to the beach and on the way my 2 eldest were reading questions out of a book entitled "If". They asked me, "If there was a day you could choose to relive, what day would it be?" When I hesitated they started suggesting some days… "When you first met Daddy?", "When you had your first kiss?", "When you fell in love with that guy before Daddy?", etc. I finally had to answer honestly that I would like to go back to the days when each of them was born.

They pondered this for half a heartbeat and then Joy piped up, "But, weren't those, like, really painful days for you?" I confessed that the same pain-erasing grace that God grants to most women had caused me to (mostly) forget what I endured birthing each of them, but allowed me to remember the awe of viewing something entirely new in His creation. I reminded them that although my life has changed in many ways, I chose to become a mother and accepted the responsibilities which come with that choice, even when it means that it cuts a long-anticipated trip short. We played in the water, collected clam shells, chased seagulls, built a sandcastle, and buried Joy in sand which we sculpted to looked like a mermaid's body. I love how God can redeem even a "bad mom" like me and give me wonderful gifts like this unanticipated day with my children. I am learning (slowly) to walk graciously in His plan for my life and rejoice in the unmaking of my plans.

P.S. My friend's sons are both doing well.
P.P.S. I still want to try the Florida trip again sometime!