Just Grace

I am not a spontaneous person. I’m not free spirited. I like plans, routines, to do lists. Sometimes, I wish this weren’t true about me. I’d like to be more relaxed and just take life as it comes, but I’ve learned that I function best when I stick to what I know. God made me a planner, and it is good.

So yesterday I took time to plan out my week. I made menu plans, scheduled activities, even wrote tasks for each day. I felt good, because I knew that when I do that I put my time into the things that matter to me. It seemed like a victory was ahead.

But then I came home last night with a raging headache that kept me up until after 1, and made me sleep till 8. Suddenly, my best laid plans were off. There just weren’t enough hours for all my to do’s. See, this is the problem with schedules – when you make them, you’re acutely aware of when you aren’t following them!

It would be so easy to look at my list and see what didn’t happen, to be disappointed, to be stressed. Throughout the day, whenever this temptation came to mind, I said simply, “grace.”

Plans are good. Intentionality is good. But life doesn’t go the way we expect so much of the time, so instead of looking at what didn’t happen, my victory today is to be happy for what did. For all the rest, it’s just grace.

What are you calling victory today?