Embracing Changed Plans

white christmas tree
Today I had planned to go shopping with Tristan.  I had planned to get coffee and help him look for some new clothes that he desperately needs.  I had planned to get Aeropress replacement filters for myself because I ran out yesterday, and no cup of coffee is as good as Aeropress coffee.  I had planned to come home after shopping and work on decorating for Christmas – which I was SO excited to do.

But plans change.

On the way to shopping, we got a call from the school nurse.  Gemma was in her office with a stomach ache and needed to be picked up.  She had been sick on Tuesday night, but was fine all day yesterday, so we were surprised to get this call.  Thankfully, we were only 10 minutes into our drive to Denver – we flipped around and picked her up and brought her home.  We decided we would try shopping again tomorrow, and Gemma seemed to be doing just fine, so we had a new plan.  But a few hours later, we got another call – Gavin threw up at school and needed picked up.  Yeah.   THAT kind of sickness.  Lysol, hand sanitizer, frequent bathroom trips, and dry hands from washing, washing, and more washing.  We brought him home – he was upset, tired, and hurting.  He definitely didn’t go to school this morning planning on getting sick.  He planned to stay at school all day, come home, do his homework, maybe play video games and skateboard, eat dinner, and just hang out.

But plans change.

I don’t think we ever plan for the bad stuff to happen.  Sickness, cars breaking down, financial trouble, relationship turmoil, natural disasters – even though we know these things happen all the time to everyone, it’s still unexpected and horribly surprising when they end up happening to us.

“Nooooo.  I can’t get sick – I have PLANS this weekend!”

“Great, Thanksgiving is coming up and now we’ve got this to deal with.”  

“Hrmph.  We have SO totally had our fair share of sickness the past couple months, so this isn’t FAIR.”

That’s been pretty much my thought process today I’m ashamed to admit.  I don’t know if I ever handle bad change well.  I wish I did.  I wish my thoughts would have been more along the lines of:

“I’m so glad that we were able to get the kids from school quickly and bring them home and take care of them.”

“Thank goodness we have access to medicine, good food, and healthcare to ease their pain and discomfort and help them get on the mend.”

“I feel thankful that we have heat in our house on this very cold day, warm blankets to wrap the kids in, and beds to tuck them into.”

“I’m so grateful that Tristan works from home and is able to be here to tag-team this with me.  And that he takes care of me when I get sick.”

I want to learn to handle the unexpected better – starting now, even tonight.  It’s no fun being sick or having sick kids (it sucks), but I can handle it – and more importantly, I can handle it in a thankful way.  Embracing changed plans tonight – even the bad ones.

Stephanie-May

You May Also Like...