not as planned

There are days when things just go wrong! Or at least when they don't go as I'd planned.

Today was one of those days. And I guess the acid test of a trust in God actually comes on days like that. How do we cope when life goes a little bit pear-shaped?

Not that today was disastrous! Not at all. I mean, everything's relative - and when I say that things went wrong today I'm talking on a very small and low-key scale.

But it seemed to me quite apt that today the stock market sort of 'crashed' as well. The biggest daily fall since the so-called 9/11. It's a good symbol of the sort of day I had.

The boiler ceased to function. No hot water. No heat. It's no big deal in the whole broad scheme of things. Just a bind!

And it's chucked it down all day. Minor and inconsequential, again, compared to the floods that folk are having further south.

But an inconsequential inconvenience, since it always throws the regular lunch-time arrangements at the school. And having shifted the SU group to a Monday, the number of children out was smaller than ever (in fact to start with I began to wonder if there'd be any at all).

When I say it was a day when things went wrong, it's that sort of thing I mean. Like I say, no big deal really. Just irksome, a series of little niggles. But like grains of dirt in your shoe soon start to blister your feet, so these sort of little niggles can rapidly knock a guy off his stride!

I actually quite enjoy the challenge of coping with tiny little setbacks of this sort. They're sort of good for me.

For one thing, they help me get a true perspective on my life and on my world.

They make me think of others far less fortunate than myself.

I counter my annoyance at a boiler breaking down by reminding myself of the millions in this world today who don't have any water (let alone hot water) and don't have any shelter (let alone the heating I'm accustomed to).

The smaller number of children at the SU group today turned out to be just fine. I ended up having to 'make it up' as I went along - so far as the form it took.

But it worked out fine and the children were great and I think they enjoyed the time. We played some games (made up on the spot!) and then got down to the story Jesus told about the mustard seed. How it starts really small and ends up pretty big.

God's kingdom's like that, Jesus said. They got the point. They thought the SU group was a pretty good example. And so as we closed one of the girls led us all in prayer and asked that God would make the SU group here grow from being small up to a size where maybe all the school would like to come!

I'm not sure what we'd do with them all if they did, mind you! But that's a problem we'll tackle in days to come!

And then I got word that someone else had died and would I be OK to take the funeral on Friday of this week.

Not the way I'd planned this week!

We've an extra service coming up this Sunday afternoon and I'd figured that I would be needing all my time this week to get the preparation for these services all done.

But I've long since learned I simply have to trust the Lord in all these things.

And if there are five different services now to be led and conducted this week - well, he knows what he's taking on and I'll simply look to him to give me both the time and, as I take the time, his word for all these services.

I called by on the family at night. The family where there'd been the death, I mean.

I can't say I know them as I don't think they've been much around our services of worship through these latter years (I think they maybe used to be more regular - but health has not been great, advancing years have crept up on them both and ... well, there are doubtless all sorts of different reasons why I haven't got to know them much before).

It was good to have the time with them. And they seemed to be appreciative. Indeed, when it came the time to leave and I prayed with them, they said they were astounded at my memory.

I try, when I pray with folk like that, I try to incorporate all that we've discussed. Mainly because I want them to know that the Lord's like that. He knows every smallest detail of our lives - and remembers the things that mean so much to us.

So my day got knocked about a bit. And the weather got colder, too, which didn't help!

But it makes for a bit of adventure! I never know what to expect.

The one thing I did, though, according to plan, was to do a little bit more of my writing! I can still be creative when everything else is collapsing around me!