A Little Fair Perspective

My husband accuses me of never being able to just sit still.
I plan activities for our family weekends.
I have visions of the perfect day at the perfect place with the perfect pictures.
But things don't always work out quite as I planned.

A week and a half ago the fair came to town. I planned our excursion down to the minute from rides to grandstand events to food. What I didn't plan for, was the unrelenting downpour of rain. I checked the weather report every 30 minutes and there appeared to be no way that the cloud cover would move and no way that we could attend the fair as planned. I was devastated. The kids were fine. Michael did his best to lift my spirits with an evening of "plan B". But I was just plain bummed. I wanted to go to the fair and I wanted to go the way that we had planned, or at least the way that I had planned.

The week after the great fair disappointment, I encountered trouble after trouble after trouble. The rent for the month before had bounced unintentionally and before I could get to the property company, we had hundreds of dollars in extra fees and the next months rent to pay as well. I was driving home worrying about our bank account and hoping things would not bounce. As I drove and fretted and tried to figure out the whats and the hows, I prayed. By the time I got home I was completely relieved to find an unexpected check in the mail, an amount that covered the exact dollar needed. That type of unexpected blessing became the theme of the week.

By Friday afternoon, I was busily completing some tasks for work when I received a phone call from our neighbor. I met her outside in the yard where she presented me with free tickets to the fair.

I came back in the house completely astonished.
The weekend before as we watched the rain puddle and ruin our fair excitement, I wondered why things just never work out the way I want them to. Of course had I known that a week later we would be given free tickets that would save us money, well then I probably wouldn't have been so bummed. I guess that's the story of my life. I make plans, they don't work out the way I intend for them to, and lo and behold.... something better happens.

I spent all week worrying, fretting, and anxiously concerning myself with every detail of the day and as each day passed with all troubles resolved, all anxieties hushed, and new blessings each morning... I realized how much I have limited myself and our lives with my carefully thought out plans but limited abilities.

As our laughing crew of chaos entered the fairgrounds using our gifted admission tickets, we were prepared for fun completely equipped with rides, food, and smiles. And even though I found fun and excitement just as I had hoped. I also found perspective, the realization that I don't have to plan all things, and usually the things that I don't over plan and over analyze workout better than the things that I do. Ah yes, perspective. Found from the top of the Ferris Wheel.