Lord Willing.....

Lord willing....it was an expression that my grandfather used to say...he was from 'the old country'...they used to say that expression too...I grew up thinking 'the old country' was Ireland...never realizing that it referred to any country that someone had left behind to live in a new country....
Lord willing......I think it originated from that scripture passage...not sure where it is...but that one that says something about not making plans...oh, I think it was the guy that kept building the bigger barns, but then lost everything.....so, people would say....Lord willing, when they talked about plans they had or were making....just so God didn't think they were taking the future into their own hands....that we were about to tell God just what we were going to do,...without seeking his plan....

We make plans in our lives...most of us our planners.....when you're growing up it's the plan of 'what will we be when we grow up' ...will we get married...will we have 2.5 children....(kind of blew that one out of the water....never did like that .5 anyways)....will we live in the city, or the suburbs...or what city...what province...what state....we make plans for holidays, family outings ( as our family grew larger, they became less)....do we buy this car/van now, or do we wait....

As life moves on, we get to the point of thinking about retirement....that far off grey area that when we were younger seemed so far away...plenty of time to think about that, plenty of time to plan....but now it's closer, now your plans include things that you'll never do.....the realization is a disappointing thought....like when I was a teen I always had a plan to live in the country, on a few acres, a big house with a wrap around porch, and five dogs...yes five.....lets see if I remember.....I think I wanted a Collie (like Lassie), an Afghan (not the blanket), an Irish Red setter (I am partly Irish), a Golden Retriever, and a Scottie dog...I know, the last one doesn't quite fit with the size of the other ones, but I always liked them.....so...have I realized those plans.....no...no country house, never owned any of the dogs I dreamt about...probably a good thing...all of the are high maintenance grooming, and well, if you asked my two old English sheepdogs we own now, they would probably roll their eyes in disgust ! As we were driving down a country road , a while back, the realization hit like a smack upside my head that that teenage plan would never come to fruition....I'm just too old....too old to move to a house like that, with that kind of upkeep, too old to have any more dogs after the two we have now...my kids don't believe me but how can you afford annual vet bills of over $400 , and that's even when they're healthy!, on a retirement pension!

So, some plans come and go....some are like vapours in the air.....like living in Texas...hubby had to do a lot of business trips to Texas...we both fell in love with the state....the people are just so darn friendly....hubby says 'let's move to Texas'.....I said that I couldn't leave my grand babies behind ( that was years ago when the grand babies were just starting to come)....

Plans....I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper.....( ok, why am I in debt then....because you didn't follow THE plan, stupid...oh ya, right.....I thot it was THE plan.....)

Plans.....as you sit and make your little plans and you stare off into that unknown called the future...your future....things are a little hazy....you know how you'd like things to be, whether they come to pass is an entirely different thing.....hubby and I thought we'd be getting close to being on our own by now....we had plans,...big plans , little plans....but, who knows whether they will happen...oh yes, God knows but he hasn't let us in on the Plan yet.....right now, it looks like the 22, 21and almost 18 year old kids that are still at home , will be here for a good while.....there is a severe shortage of specialized living places for adults with learning disabilities, don't ya know. The government failed to plan for that one...they failed to plan that when they allowed for all these moms to exercise their rights to ingest whatever chemical, drug or alcohol, into their pregnant bodies, that they'd have all these young adults on their hands needing a special place to live because their parents ( adoptive or birth ) were too old to look after them anymore!

Plans....we've been making some plans....in the month of June, we should be celebrating 40 years of when we made that formal commitment to love, honour, and obey...ya , I think it was obey....I know that became unpopular, but I think we did....it was a rainy day....I had planned sunshine....it never happened....the rain stopped for the picture taking ...I was too exhausted to care at that point....we had plans for a honeymoon...we could only afford camping...ya, me...camping....people that know me are laughing right now...I don't do camping....although we did have his parents trailer...not as bad as a tent....
And now 40 years later...hubby has made quite the grandiose plans....in one week from today, the plan is to fly from Seattle to Maui, to a quiet little B&B, spend a week there, hop over to Kauai , for the second week, then back to Seattle, and then on home .....two weeks....sigh....

Two weeks......Lord willing....two weeks...... :-)