Follow the
My
dentist’s office called last week to tell me that I missed the appointment I
didn’t know I had. How
embarrassing. The problem was that I lost my calendar for an entire week. Life stopped until it was recovered.
My calendar contains most of my
brain cells. Without it, I might
accidentally deliver Daniel to ballet and Allie to the fourth grade boys’
basketball practice. Or what if I
accidentally delivered Daniel to one of my speaking engagements instead? Can you picture him blinking dazedly from the
podium of a women’s conference? And what about the orthodontist appointments? With five kids and 60 plus ill-fitting molars,
missing the Rhea appointments might leave a black hole in the orthodontist’s
schedule that could cause the office date book to implode.
Since losing my calendar was so like losing my brain, I ended up bouncing from place to place in scarecrow fashion trying to find anyone who had even a clue where the rogue planner might be. It was like a bad Oz scene. I was singing “If I Only Had a Brain” at every stop. My head definitely had that “full of stuffin’” feeling. My calendar doesn’t exactly unravel any riddle for every individ’le, but it does generally help keep the individ’les heading to the right appointments, obligations and social events.
The reason it’s such a tragedy to misplace that brain-thing is because it’s so completely crammed full of those events: meetings, kids’ guitar and art lessons, writing deadlines, speaking dates—a leather-bound tornado waiting to touch down. It’s a twister!
When I finally found the stray calendar, I really had to give it a pretty serious analysis. OK, first I did the ‘found the calendar’ happy dance of joy. But after that, I knew it was time to take a look at the schedule. Anytime losing a date book causes extreme slight hyperventilation it’s time to seek treatment. Treatment for me consists of a thorough examination of the schedule, and prompt surgical removal of unnecessary obligations, followed by daily application of affected area (calendar) to a prescribed altar—Christ’s.
Dorothy
had to choose a direction on her yellow brick journey. The Scarecrow gave her some pretty brainless
counsel: “Of course, people do go both
ways.” It reminds me of how I can end up
meeting myself coming and going when my calendar is out of whack. But that’s the straw-headed road. There’s no peace there. There is, however, great peace in heading
down God’s road of true purpose. Isaiah
26:3 says, “You, LORD, give perfect peace to those who keep their
purpose firm and put their trust in you.” (TEV)
Every now and then, we need to
pull off the road, yellow-bricked or not, and think about the Father’s plans
for us. Take some time to ponder His
plans for you. Who knows? You might think of things you never thunk before!
Rhonda Rhea juggles her writing and speaking ministries around chasing her five children and running to keep up with her husband, Richie, pastor of First Baptist Church of Troy. Her book, Amusing Grace, is available at your local Christian book store, or you can pick it up through her website at www.RhondaRhea.net. Watch for her new book Turkey Soup—Tastes Just Like Chicken in September.