Sometimes you just need a quick devo to brighten your day… A huge thank you to our Kids Director, Stephanie Meunier, for sharing this thoughtful story and message!

It was your typical morning in the Meunier house… or was it? The only thing I wanted was to have my coffee and start school downstairs in the school room. Well, with five kids 11 and under (three of my own and two boys I was watching) the morning seemed to fall apart quickly. We had everything from spilled milk and cereal to dirty diapers to missing socks and a missing sweatshirt that someone just had to have… Finally, an hour after I wanted to start school, we headed down to the basement to start school. Do you remember the coffee?

Well, that was in a travel mug so that by the time I took my first sip it would still be warm. “The Littles “and I were just getting ready to start our circle time. “The Littles” are anyone under five years old. I had three of them that day. As I sit down to start school and take my first sip of coffee, I hear, “Mama! I love you!” And here she comes with her bouncing curly hair and big blue eyes running straight for me. Can you guess what happened next? Yep! She runs right into me for a hug and my coffee goes flying up in the air and then spills everywhere. Now instead of starting the day, I was again cleaning up another mess. Not having the best attitude, I dried up the spill and headed upstairs to make another cup of coffee, trying not to overreact because, after all, my baby girl just wanted to give me a hug and tell me she loved me.

As I walk into the kitchen, I realize something doesn’t smell right and there is a very loud hissing noise… I look over and there is gas coming from the oven and filling the house fast! Quickly, I get all the kids out and over to the neighbors. After the fire department leaves and the house is safe to go back in, it is now, you guessed it… lunch time. We had a new oven put in the day before and they never replaced the gas line. It turns out that those are very sensitive and can crack easily when moved around a lot.

So why did I tell this story? Well, in Luke 10:40, God tells us that “Martha was distracted with much serving.” And in Luke 10:41 Jesus says to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.”

Don’t get so focused on getting it “all done” that you miss the small stuff. It may be hard, but try enjoying those crazy mornings with your toddlers. Before long, they are turning sixteen and ready to drive away in the car instead of yelling from across the room that they love you and running in for a hug. Enjoy the crazy, enjoy the mess, and enjoy the little things in life because some don’t last forever. You never know when a simple hug could save a life. What you don’t know is that if Anna had not spilled my coffee we would have been down in the basement for three hours and this story could have ended very differently. Some days God may have a different plan for you. Don’t be so focused on “the list” or your plans that you miss what He has for you. Sometimes we need to just throw out the list and enjoy the moment.

So here are some questions for you and me to reflect on:

When was a time when things did not go according to your plan?

How did it turn out? What did you learn?

Looking back, where did you see God showing you something else?

I will close with Jeremiah 29:11, a perfect reminder that God’s plans are better than our plans: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future.”