The Plan 2014

Happy second day of the New Year to you!

So are you over the rush of enthusiasm about how this year will be different? Me too.

Mine ended around 3:30 pm yesterday. I worked at the store, so this may have helped bring about the needed dose of reality to my annual over-zealous and slightly grandiose delusions that I will finally make all things right in the coming year.

When not waiting on customers, which was most of the time, we caught up on store maintenance. Several lights were burned out and since I was the tallest one there, I grabbed the ladder and bulbs and set to work. One of the lights was right above a display in the front window. In order to get the ladder close enough, I needed to move a large Christmas tree that was resting on a wooden block platform.

The block is hollow and the tree is plastic, so I figured a good shove would move it enough for what I needed. I pushed with my foot. Nothing. I got down in a squat and pushed with both hands. Nothing. I got down on my knees and leaned all of my Christmas-cookie-enhanced weight into the block. It wouldn’t budge.

As I mentioned, the time was around 3:30 pm. If you know me, you know this is the dark hour of the day for me. Lunch is a memory, dinner looms in the distance. The morning coffee has long ago worn off. My early morning quiet time has faded to a faint ray of hope about to be extinguished by fatigue….and so I had a momentary spiritual meltdown as I cried out to God to move the stinking rock in front of me so I could change the light bulb. Thankfully the struggle was internal and the gal working with me missed the drama that was happening a few feet away from her.

Well, God answered in simple form, as is His nature. The guidance I needed came in three simple words. Raise it up.
I obeyed. Giving a slight tilt to the corner of the block, I discovered there was a little edge that was caught on the line between the wood flooring and the carpet.
Once I freed it from this glitch, the block slid easily away and I was able to complete my task.

This morning I had time to sit and look back through the calendar of 2013. I had been thinking it was a year of frustrations and rushed mornings, of incomplete goals and unrealized dreams. But as I flipped the pages of the past 52 weeks, I saw that my perspective has been off. Oh, there were some trials – not just ours, but for those we love. But wow! the mercies of God!! Day by day, week by week; He was faithful!

There were some things that were not accomplished, but there were some pretty serious visions realized! There were some deaths, some births, some illnesses, some healings.

This year will be the same with different stories. God will faithfully walk me through ups and downs. I will struggle with some blocks that need His wise words and guidance to help me move.

Whatever lies ahead will be walked out one day at a time; moment by moment, step by step; and He will lead me every moment, every step.
The only grand plan I have is to simply seek to walk with Him, every second in 2014. It’s a good plan.

May you be blessed as you reflect on His hand in your life in 2013 and look forward to walking with Him throughout 2014

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