Food. Drinks. Plates, Cups. Napkins. Pictures. Cake. Cupcakes. Cookies. Balloons. Streamers. Memory Box. Cards. Gifts. Tables. Chairs. Tablecloths. Decorations.
WHEW! There’s a lot to think about when planning a party. We celebrated my father-in-law’s 90th birthday this past weekend with well over 100 friends and family. As we were beginning the planning several months ago, ideas were flowing. It was easy to throw out the ideas. The details were what became more tedious.
As time drew closer and we talked to our caterer, she reigned us back in a bit on our food ideas. She is the one with the expertise and gave us things to think about that we hadn’t thought of. She knows how to set up the food line, knows what foods go together and how to make the setup of the room flow smoothly. We hadn’t thought of all that.
We found there were a lot of things like that as the party planning went along that one or the other of us hadn’t thought of but another one brought to our attention. Frames for pictures for the tables. Scissors to have on hand for decorating. An extra helium tank for the “larger than we thought” balloons. Extra napkins and forks for the cupcake table. There were a lot of things to think about to pull off a successful event.
Every time something came to mind and the phrase “I hadn’t thought of that” raced through my brain, I thought about life and how I fight to control situations to make everyone happy and things to run smoothly. I thought about how I tell God I trust Him but then I try to do things on my own. I feel like He gently taps me and says “but what about this?” And I reply, “Oh I hadn’t thought of that.”
He knows every little detail of every little thing we do, we plan, or we have done. And the good news is that He already thought of it. He already knows that we will mess up. We’re going to screw up this perfect little plan, but He says “I already thought about it.” He’s probably saying, “I knew you’d mess this up, so I have a way to steer it back on course.”
I’m so thankful that God’s ways are better than my ways. I’m so thankful He’s already thought of every little detail to every little scenario. I’m so thankful that even when we mess it all up and it seems like there’s no hope, that He can reach over and put His arms around us and clean up this little mess of ours. He’s good like that….because He’s already thought of everything!
Isaiah 55:8-9 – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
