This blog post barely made it to your inbox. It was touch and go with the timing today.
Have you ever had those days when you feel your time gets hijacked?
Yep, me too! And today was one of those days.
It started last night with Dave coming home from a meeting, walking into the living room and asking: “How long has the cat been in the mud room?”
Now this is what you need to know:
- Dave is allergic to cats – They are not his favorite animals. (Except he does like our Maggie)
- Our cat, Maggie, lives outside and does a fabulous job of keeping the mice in our barn and yard at a minimum population.
- She is a valuable asset to our little homestead.
- On cold days we let her hang out in the mud room to stay warm.
Hanging in the mud room has worked out pretty well… except for last night when she decided to leave her mark in the form of cat urine. Not a good choice, kitty!
The smell permeated the space.
I dropped into detective mode, searching out where Maggie had left her liquid deposit. I grabbed all the towels we use for cleaning pet feet and wiped up all the puddles from the floor. Now most of those puddles were from snowy boots but one can not be too careful. Plus, there was no way I was getting down and investigating which puddles were melted snow and which were not.
We went to bed thinking we had taken care of the smell.
The morning air assured me we had not! My morning was hijacked with a 2-hour-late-start to school along with
- washing all mittens, hats and scarves the cat could have been in contact
- wiping all surfaces down with steaming hot water and cleaning solution
- mopping the floors and vacuuming rugs sprinkled with baking soda.
I finally found the desecrated item — a boot tray which has now gone through its own disinfecting process.
Rest assured, the smell has been eliminated!
But with all that craziness this post went on hold. And isn’t that how it goes sometimes?
We have an agenda, a plan for the day; but an unplanned event takes precedent and that unplanned mess gets our attention.
This thought circled around in my brain today.
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. ~~~ Proverbs 16:9
I can make all kinds of plans for my day. I can be determined and focused. But then things happen and my plans get thrown off course.
Those quick realignment adjustments can come in many forms.
- a sick kid
- 2-hour-late-start to the school day
- a phone call with news that changes our agenda
- traffic hold-ups
- and even cat urine that permeates the olfactory bulbs
Our planning on some days makes for smooth travel. We like those days!!!
But other days, a quick realignment is needed and we have to make adjustments along the way. That’s when I think about the second part of that verse… the Lord establishes their steps.
When I think about the word establish I like the definition: bring into being on a firm or stable basis.
At the beginning of our day, we can invite God to be a part of it; asking Him to guide and establish our steps. We are choosing His way and listening for what He has to say about our plans for the day. The wonderful thing about doing this is that even though I don’t know everything going on in my day — God does! And when I place my trust in Him I can believe that whatever happens He’s got a good grip on the whole thing. I can lean into His grace to get me through.
Psalm 90:16 is a simple prayer we can use to start our day.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us — yes, establish the work of our hands.
So when our plans are interrupted by unforeseen events of the day we have a choice to make. We can allow ourselves to be thrown off course by our own annoyed attitude and words of frustration or we can approach those swerves with some extra grace and patience?
We can’t always choose what happens but we can choose our attitude in the happening.
Even though my idea of a “good-start-morning” does NOT include cat urine clean-up, a course correction toward grace can still bring about a good day. And there’s always hope for a better day tomorrow!
Happy Over-the-Hump Day,
~ Rachel
Tripping Over Typeset 