Wednesday October 28 2015  THE DAY RAN OUT

 

Proverbs 16:9:  (Five different translations of the same verse).

NIV: “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

KJ2000:  “A man’s heart plans his way; but the Lord directs his steps.”

NLT:  “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”

ESV:  “The heart of man plans his way but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Aramaic Bible in Plain English:  “The heart of a son of man plans his ways, and the Lord Jehovah orders his steps.”

 

Then Dave found the following verse, Psalms 37:23 from the NASB translation:

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way.”  

Then following that verse is the commentary  for verse 23 which states: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, rather, established, upheld, and made firm.”

 Well, today my steps did not feel established, upheld, or made firm.  All I can hope, is that it was God who established, directed, determined and upheld, and made firm my steps, because I felt as if I were blowing in the wind. 

Up by 6:00 a.m., had my crock pot full of pumpkin and beans and lots of other good things, plugged in and cooking by 7:30 a.m.   Then I took the time to pick a pomegranate apart for a salad.  The rest of the day felt like a rug was being pulled out from underneath my feet.  I found out that the new battery charger I had purchased in August would not charge the new battery that I bought yesterday.  With the long photo session coming up I must have plenty of back up batteries for the hundreds of photos I must take.  So the first thing I had to do was go all the way back to town (about 13 miles away) to buy a new charger to replace the other charger.  I had thrown away two other batteries (almost $100 each) over the last couple of months because they wouldn’t take a charge.  Little did I know that is was the charger and probably not the batteries.

I don’t remember if I mentioned about one of our large lower cupboard doors breaking a hinge yesterday and falling off.  I searched for a replacement hinge and went way across town to buy it yesterday (again with limited time to use that way).  I called and left a message for the builder who was the contractor we used three years ago when we had a water loss.  He returned the call as I was in the garage leaving for the Camera Company.  I came back in, we talked, and I had an appointment in one hour for the workman to come.  Well, I left, the store, exchanged my charger free of charge and the salesman threw in a used battery to boot.  I arrived home two minutes before the carpenter arrived.  He was efficient and quick and the job completed within the hour.  He did not use the hinges I purchased yesterday but was able to reinforce the ones that were already on the door.  It was a much better fix than having to reconfigure the cutout area that would be needed to use the new ones, not to mention it would have weakened the integrity of the door.  The doors are heavy solid oak.

He left and someone called and needed to change an appointment they had with Dave for this evening to this afternoon.  We ate quickly, and my plans were to go down and start working on my equipment.

Dave then answered the phone and it was a NILMDTS call to photograph a baby that was being taken off life support.  There went the rest of my day.  I must be honest and tell you that I had a bit of a grumbling spirit going on inside me.  I would never say no to doing such a photo session and knew I would do it if I couldn’t find someone else.  I just gave it over to the Lord.  And I did feel a bit better after that.  The hospital said they would call me when it was time to come.  So now I had to reconfigure my equipment for the kind of session I would be doing at the hospital.  And I still had batteries that were not charging.  By this time I am constantly praying in my spirit.  Dave’s appointment time arrived and I had to leave the area, as these are personal sessions with his care receiver.  I exited to the lower level and started working on getting things ready for the photo session in two days.  I became sidetracked with a bogged down computer and had to do a little work there.  I did accomplished some things but never did touch my equipment that I wanted to have completely tested and packed today (which is several hours of work).  I try never to leave something for the last moment just because of situations like today cropping up.  Now tomorrow becomes the “last moment”.

There were other phone calls, other people that I had to see that dropped by and my plans for today quickly dwindled due to the fact that the day had run out.  So that is what happened to my day.  I planned (what I thought was a good plan) and like I said, I certainly hope it was God directing my steps because I always want to be in His perfect plan, and I do hope He delights in me.  I then received a phone call.  It was the hospital.  And lo and behold, just when I thought there wasn’t anything left of today the nurse told me that the hospital photographer stopped by and had some extra time and decided to do the photo session since he was there at just the right time.  Then I heaved a big sigh and knew that it was God directing my day after all.  Now, if I had gone to do the session I would have looked at it the same way.  There is always a reason I am where I am when God directs my steps.

So…tomorrow…hmm…

Maybe I just won’t make any plans and allow God to lead me from the moment I arise.  Somehow He always helps me get things done.  I just need to remember that BEFORE I make my plans.  That alone would save me time.  One thing I am hoping however, is that when I go to bed by 9:00 p.m. tomorrow evening, that all my equipment is lined up and ready to load in the car in the morning.  Since it is too cold at night to have my equipment in the car I must load it in the morning.  The good thing, is the fact that there is no snow and I can still drive around back to the studio entrance and load from there. 

 

EVEN THOUGH I CAREFULLY PLAN

By Kathleen Martens

October 28, 2015

 

Lord, thank you for this day,

Regardless the mess I was in.

No time to do what must be done

So hectic it has been.

 

Even though I carefully plan

How my day is laid out.

Perhaps I should just wait for you

To tell me what it’s all about.

 

It would sure save me time

To always do it Your way.

With all the planning that I do

I’ll let you establish my day.

 

But I must remember

To give it over to You,

And allow your sovereign guidance

To show me what to do.

 

And I am always grateful

For I feel You are watching over me.

And I thank You for the joy you give

As you show me how to be.

 

So…tomorrow…I’ll just put myself into God’s hands and allow Him to establish, uphold me, and make firm my steps.  Then I will be ready for Friday.  I must remember, He never gives me more than I can handle.  But sometimes I forget that. 

I’M STILL LEARNING.  I AM A WORK IN PROGRESS!

 

Good night and sleep tight.  I’m looking forward to a beautiful tomorrow.