Late night, or was it an early morning?

One night/morning this week I was up with Andrew trying to help Kel get some rare - and well deserved - sleep. Seems like it was around 4 am. He was wide awake, of course, and I was somewhere in between. We made our laps around the living room and kitchen, just trying to hold off the inevitable when he decides that he's had enough and let's everyone know that it's time for him to eat.

As we were making our way around the house, I started thinking about how much has changed for our family in the past year. I would have been shocked to look a year into the future and see myself holding a little newborn! The older kids have changed so much, Drew has arrived, we've moved to a different house, pre-school, etc. It's all happened really fast, but much has changed. The interesting thing was, though, a year ago I was completely clueless to all of it.

This time last year, I really had no idea that we would shortly start talking about the possibility of looking for a new house. I was not seriously considering whether or not we should think about having another child. To be honest, I don't have a clue what my expectations for the year would have even been at that point. The only thing I'm sure of is that I saw none of this coming.

I'm not a planner by nature, but I'm married to one. We make a pretty good team in that department, and we're almost always on the same page about where our family is going. But really, we have no clue. One unexpected event can cause us to abandon our most firm plans. This year, the unexpected has been good for us. It won't always be that way, and I was feeling the weight of that reality the other night. As much joy as we've seen lately, eventually there will be hurt, sadness, and loss. That's the reality of the fallen world we live in. Try as we might to avoid it, we can't, no matter how much we plan. For now, I'll take comfort in this:

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Proverbs 19:21 ESV

Thank you God that your grace is constant - and enough - regardless of our circumstances. And thank you that you have bigger and better plans for us than we can come up with on our own.

-Jeff