Cops and Robbers

Last night I made plans for today.  In fact, I went over those plans this morning as I was trying to woo myself back to sleep around 3am.  Yep, I had my day planned.

So what happened?  First I picked up a new study guide and got engrossed in it.  Then I had a phone call, a very early phone call, somewhere around 7am on the house phone...  It was Amie who just got off work and wanted to chat.  I didn't mind, I enjoy listening to her and talking over family things with her.  We talked for an hour.  She reminded me while I was on the phone that I'd meant to look up a special item for Lily's birthday at the end of the  month.  I assured her I'd be looking it up this morning and would order, too, if it was around the amount I'd budgeted.  I sat right in the chair and talked because we don't have a cordless phone and I couldn't go anywhere but where I was.  No multi tasking while that call went on.



I did a couple of jobs after I got off the phone with her and forgot about looking up Lily's present.  I thought it would be a good time to take a shower, but John called and so I talked to him, made another cup of coffee,  fed the pets, read my Bible,  came back indoors and thought about looking up that item and then compared  between three or four sites before ordering and another hour or so had passed.

I headed back to the bath to take a shower and decided I'd better strip the bed, then as I stepped into the bathroom, Mama called.  She wanted to know if I'd like to come to dinner...for that matter, wondered if I'd mind going to buy chicken to go with the vegetables she'd fixed?  I looked at the clock and it was 10:30.  I hadn't had a shower, hadn't made cookies, hadn't got the bed made, hadn't started laundry...

Ever have a day like this?  I have them now and then.  A friend of mine dubbed them Cops days.  Change of Plans.  And I seriously thought about that while I showered and dressed, made the bed, started the laundry, put on my makeup and hurried out the door.  This was not the day I planned and a lot of time had passed without any of the tasks I'd meant to do being accomplished.  Here it was 11:30 and I'd only managed two minor tasks on my list.  It's usually about here that I start getting a bit of an attitude...

But you know what?  Today I decided that I didn't want to play COPs and Robbers.  Robbers?  Yes.  I could let the way the day was unfolding rob my joy in the things that had been pleasant, that might be pleasant yet.  Amie doesn't always feel like chatting after working all night long and I haven't had a lot of calls from her.  Would I have taken back that hour of the day?  No, No....I truly couldn't say I would have.  And what about that Bible study on the front porch, with the cat in a loving, purring sort of mood and the dogs wagging tails and grinning from ear to ear, and the birds singing their hearts out because the morning was so gorgeously cool and green and blue.  Would I have changed any of that?  No, I don't think so.

And the Bible study itself, which made me think long and hard about what the Psalm said about praise being so sweet to Adonai, or the vision of Jesus talking to the men in synagogue as I read the New Testament?  Or what about that passage in I Samuel where David and Saul were so respectful to one another, referring to one another as Father and Son even though Saul had been attempting to kill David for many months?  Take back that time and understanding?  No, I don't believe I'd have given up any of that either.

Or the conversation with John?  No, not that.

It wasn't my day anyway.  It was God's day and He seems to have a far better idea of what I and the people in my life need.

So I decided to just go on with this change in plans.  I'd meant to go into town anyway to buy milk and a paper.  Why complain because I would be taking Mama along?  We enjoyed the ride, went by the store with the Spring plants to admire the display, bought chicken, and had dinner together.  A very good dinner of Fried Chicken, Lemon Asparagus, Squash Casserole and Molten Lava Cakes (that was my contribution).  I admired her freshly pedicured feet (a gift from my brother's fiancee which Mama enjoyed greatly).  We talked about the children and this and that.  I took Mama a family picture of Jd and his family that Lori had posted this morning with both boys grinning wide and Hailey looking disgusted.  We swapped recipes.  I stayed about an hour after the meal and brought home leftovers for another meal for myself, a treat for John, a Sunday paper that Mama had already read.    Would I take back that time of being blessed and being a blessing too?  No, I don't think so.

And when I got home and looked at the clock I seriously debated my options.  You know what?  I made two batches of cookie dough and baked up one (the other had to chill), dried two loads of clothes, folded and put them away, swept floors, spent an hour trying to get a project to work (I'll save that aggravation for another day), noted as I left the craft room that it needed a good straightening up, but went on to tend to other jobs.  I watched a TV program I look forward to on Sunday afternoons, fed the animals, made coffee, cleaned the kitchen and then slipped back to clean up that craft room and sorted coupons.  And in the end, except for vacuuming I'd done all I'd meant to do today and more, despite the fact that I'd been playing COPs all day long.

Cops and Robbers.  Which one do you wanna be?