Over the last couple of weeks, the Lord has been teaching us over and over again that He places you where He needs you and not where you necessarily plan to be. Through rain, power outages, tool runs, and lack of cell service, I have learned that the only thing that the Lord calls us to have a plan for is the next step.
In my day-to-day at home, I often write my agenda for the day on a sticky note, stick it on the back of my phone and then follow it religiously until the end of the day. What I view as a necessary normal for me, to remember where I need to be, often creates a rigid schedule that deters me from veering off the plan. This sticky-note lifestyle is not something I realized was a place of comfort for me until I dove into life in Pikeville this summer.
Looking back over the last four weeks, if I attempted to make a sticky note plan for any day, it would be crumpled up and thrown in the trash by 9am. As the construction coordinator in Pikeville, Kentucky, I get the unique opportunity to do home visits with homeowners who we may be able to help in the future. I also make a stop by every home we are currently working on each day and provide supplies and tools at each project. As you can imagine, this makes for an interesting day-to-day as I continue to learn that no matter how planned you are, you and a team leader may both forget you need a saw to build a deck (you may laugh, but this happened a time or two) or that a drill needs the drill bit for the type of screw that you are using now, not the screws you used last week. You may run into a downpour of rain three mornings in a row or a power outage during breakfast the first day of projects. Sometimes you get a phone call for screws as you are about to take your first shower in a solid two days. Or if you have a week like I did this week, all of those things will happen at once.
Some days, in those moments, I have been tempted to get frustrated with the delay or the diversion from my plans, but the funny thing is those moments have been what I look to at the end of every day and say wow, it is crazy how God worked “X” in that moment. It constantly takes me back to the realization that these days are not mine, but the Lord's.
Those detours have led me to meet a 104-year-old lady and learn her secret to a long life. They've led me into many homeowners homes to join them in prayer during a tough day. But more than anything, they have led me to sit and to hear many triumphs and trials and how these people have seen the Lord through their toughest moments.
So, I am here to share that life is much richer without a Sticky-Note schedule. That choosing to focus on the next step in the day is all God calls us to do. That living life with hands and mind open to where that day leads may just be the most life-giving way to live this life God has called us to.
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