According to Plan
I can’t tell you just how many times I use that phrase throughout my everyday life: “Well, if everything goes according to plan…”
The fact is, life rarely goes according to plan.
Today was the perfect example.
I put a movie on for the kids around 9am so I could busy myself with cleaning while I waited on the outcome of the court hearing this morning. The kids were forbidden to come out of the office (where they were watching a movie and playing games) because I was steam cleaning the carpets. You see, I have been waiting and waiting to clean the carpets and I figured this would be the perfect day. I would clean the carpets and we’d all pile into the car to drive for a few hours to meet up with the foster children’s parents and by the time we got back home, the carpets would be dry. The only problem is, the children were ordered to stay in foster care! SOooo, I was stuck with five kids, wet carpet, and no where to go. Thankfully, they all had coupons for kids meals at Chickfila so we picked up some lunch and spent a couple of hours at the park. Walking back into the house this afternoon was like a breath of fresh air.
Although things did not go according to my plan, I can rest in the fact that nothing took God by surprise today. I am learning to roll with the punches. I will simply take the bare necessities out of the children’s bags that I took hours to pack after doing half a dozen loads of laundry and they can wear the same handful of outfits every week for the next few weeks as to make my load lighter when they do finally go home. The good news is, the next hearing is in two and a half weeks and I don’t know why the judge would do that to the parents unless she intends to return the children on that day. Otherwise, this is just torture!
I have said all along, if the children have to stay past the hearing today, I will enroll Sister in pre-k. I’ve already called the school, she will be in the same class as a little boy we go to church with and it’s only about six or seven minutes from our house. Even if it’s only for two and a half weeks, it will help the time go by faster and it will make the next few weeks of schooling my boys a great deal easier.
I thought I’d be very upset if they ended up having to stay (only because I spent so much time preparing for them to leave), but I have total peace about the situation.
Please keep praying!
~audrey