Lesson Learned

So, I am a planner. I plan my day out in my head most of the time before my head hits the pillow the night before. I like that. Well, today did not go as planned. My plan was to drop Riley off at school, come home and get Victoria and me ready to be gone for about 3 hours at a doctor's appointment, go to the doctor's appointment, come home, lunch, nap, laundry, pickup Riley, blah, blah, blah. Well, everything was going as planned until ... traffic. I am beginning to realize that Saginaw is a wonderful place to live, but it is very difficult to travel east or south of here. My doctor is in Arlington (SE of here) and I allowed myself 45 minutes of travel time. Well, when I had only traveled about 8 miles from my house in 35 minutes, I started to get a bit nervous. Then I missed my exit to go south on 820 (I believe I was be-bopping a little too much to the opening song of The Curious George movie - I love the music in that movie!). So, I decided to take a different route. Well, by the time 10AM came (the time of my appointment), I made a courtesy call to the doctor's office and told them I was on my way and would be there at 10:15. I was then told I would have to reschedule. URGH!!!! I was so very terribly angry, and when I get angry, I cry. Well I just cried a mountain of tears right there in the car, so much that Victoria started crying (poor little thing). So many thoughts came rushing into my head:

(1) If I totaled the number of hours I have waited in that waiting room over the past 6 years for my appointments, well, I probably could have started and finished 6 novels.

(2) just 15 minutes ... reschedule for 15 minutes ... come one ... give me a break!!

(3) do they not realize what a mother goes through to get out of the house at a certain time with all the equipment and necessities to keep an 18 month old occupied/entertained/dry/fed/happy ... and I did it to just drive around for an hour??!!!

(4) SNF

Well, once I started the way back home, I could feel my mind getting a bit out of control. It was then that I looked to the Lord. You know, I had no control over the course of events this morning that led to me being late for the appointment. God has total control. He is a God of details and he is into every detail of my life, whether I relinquish the control or not. What I have to decide is whether or not I will look at each and every life experience/occurrence as a way to increase my faith in Him or increase my faith in me. So, I "dried-up," turned around and saw my little princess sound asleep in the backseat and decided that this was not all for nothing. Not only did I learn a valuable lesson from my Lord, but I also now had the opportunity to ...

GO SHOPPING!! It was a bit chilly this morning, and poor Victoria did not have a thing to wear. We were given some hand-me-down blue jeans size 2T, which absolutely swallowed her up this morning. So she was wearing a long dress with socks and tennis shoes (she looked ridiculous ... but cute). So she was in dire need of some long pants and tops for those chilly mornings of taking the little man to school. I drove right by my exit for the house and headed straight to Kid 2 Kid. Love that store! We shopped for about an hour and this is the damage: 4 pair of pants, 6 tops, 1 sweater, 3 winter dresses, 3 summer dresses for next summer (only $1 a piece), and a pair of shoes for a grand total of $59. Can't beat that! I will have to survey what we have before I venture back for matching bows. My window of Victoria happiness was shutting as it became lunch time so we headed home. But first we stopped for a slurpee and a Diet DP.

So, it wasn't so devastating to miss my appointment after all. I rescheduled (for the 3rd time) for next week. We will see what happens. Now I am off to my first work-out at the Saginaw rec center. The Thompson family is gonna get in shape!!

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Provers 3:5-6