"According to Plan"

Have you ever made great plans for your week, and had ambitious goals to get accomplished, only to find that God had a different plan in mind? That's exactly how this week is for us. I have been planning for a while now that I was going to start potty training Liam starting this past Monday. I plan to go "cold turkey" with him, meaning no more diapers, no pull-ups, just big boy underwear. The more I thought about it, the more pull-ups did not make sense. I mean, they are exactly like a diaper, so what is the use in getting them? I am just going to deal with the mess that will most likely occur. Therefore, I planned to not go anywhere that first week of training, so we can spend lots of quality time with the potty. But, as I said before, God changed our plans.
They changed on Sunday morning when, about 5 mins before our morning service, Matt received the news that his uncle suddenly passed away that morning. It was totally unexpected, he was not sick at all. The autopsy reports have yet to be returned to the family, so the cause of death is still unknown. We are almost certain that he never received Christ as his Saviour, so it is very sad to know what he may be experiencing right now. Sunday morning service was a tough one for Matt to get through, but God gave him the strength.
Because of this, I knew that we would be making a trip to Bathurst, New Brunswick for the funeral.
Then, we made a last minute trip to Fredericton which is about 45 mins from our town. It is the closest town to us that has a mall and a bunch of stores that we don't have. But, the main reason we went there was to visit a man in our church who is quite ill. He is an elderly man, who lives with his daughter and her family. He has Parkinson's disease. He has not been doing well recently. Last week he was rushed to the Fredericton hospital. His blood pressure was almost non-existent, and it was determined that he had pneumonia in both lungs. Also, they later concluded that he also suffered a heart attack. Well, Matt needed to go visit him. Praise the Lord we know that he is a believer. Matt had the privilege of baptising him in the river just shortly after we moved here.
Anyways, so we spent all day Monday in Fredericton. Then, Tuesday we spend getting ready for youth group, getting ready to come here to Bathurst, and getting the kids their next round of shots. This morning, we left and drove the 4 hours here and went to the viewing, and are now in a hotel room. The kids are so exhausted, but are such great travelers, we had no problems with them today. We were planning on leaving in the morning to go back home, but are thinking that will not be possible, seeing as how we are getting lots of snow, even as I type this. There area that we are in they are calling for blizzard like conditions. By the looks of it outside, I think they are right! So, we may be here a day longer than planned!
I am just thankful that we have a nice hotel to stay in, and that they gave us a "compassion rate" since we are here for a funeral. It is a very nice place, with a fridge in the room, and a coffee pot (which Matt is happy about), and even a DVD player, so Liam can watch his videos that we brought. They also have movies at the front desk that you can watch. I am not sure what they have down there, but there might be something we would like! Plus, they have free internet access! So it is going to be okay if we get stuck here for a little bit!
So, that is how my week is going according to God's plan. I put off potty training, since we are not really in the most ideal situation for it! I will plan again to start this Monday, Lord willing!
I don't think I have mentioned this recently, but it is just so stinkin cold here! It has not gotten above freezing in a little while, and most mornings when I wake up, our thermometer says somewhere around -17 F! I have officially decided that I love snow, and cooler weather, but not the bitter cold like we have. It is funny - when you walk outside, you almost immediately feel like your nose hairs are frozen - at least it does in the morning or evenings when it is the coldest!:-)
Anyways, that is what is up with us! Please pray that we can be a good testimony to Matt's family, as most are still Catholic. It is nice to see them, though. I am still learning who everyone is, since my mother-in-law is one of 19 children. There are a lot of names to learn! But they all just adore Liam and Leila, and can't seem to get over how much they look alike, and look like Matt. Apparently Liam is the "spitting image" of Matt when he was that age, and, according to the pictures I have seen, he is! It is unreal how much Liam looks like Matt did as a boy. Makes me wonder what I contributed to it all! :-)
I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful day! Drop me a note thru email or a comment and let me know how you are doing!
If I get bored tomorrow, I may think of something else to write! Stayed tuned to find out! :-)
Until next time!