Keeping Traditions or Changing Them?

 

My husband and I had a bet going.  Could I get away with changing traditions this Thanksgiving and do something totally different than turkey?  I am not a big turkey fan and neither are my children, so I thought it would be a piece of cake.  I would crockpot some roast beef, and we would make open-faced roast beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a pumpkin pie.  Easy and simple.  As the day approached, the shopping was done and only one child was slightly disappointed that the turkey had gained his reprieve from dinner.  Everything was going as planned, I thought.  My oldest son approached me the day before and mentioned how he had promised his girlfriend and her family he would make our special recipe of chicken and dumplings.  What does this mean for me?  Easy just went out the window.  My grandmother's, then mother's, and now my chicken and dumpling recipe is time-consuming and completely from scratch.  As I looked into his puppy dog eyes, I couldn't say no.  So my simple meal became me boiling five pounds of leg quarters, mixing dumpling dough, and rolling out dumplings.  Of course, he stood beside me learning from the master.  He actually did quite a bit.  Now, my simple meal became the roast beef and dumplings.  No big deal.  Next, one of my children mentioned they would really like a cherry cheesecake for Thanksgiving.  Two guesses who wanted that request.  It had been so long since he had gotten to spend time with us, so a cherry cheesecake was added to the  menu.  Slowly, the menu items began to mount.  By the time we served the meal, the only thing missing was a turkey.  I also forgot the gravy to make the open roast beef sandwiches, so that was what we didn't end of having!  Doesn't it seem like the best made plans end up changing into something else entirely?  I told my husband that if he got me out of Arkansas, I would marry him.  He did keep his promise, but guess where I am living now?  You guessed it- Arkansas!  We make our plans and tell God what we are going to do, but in the end, God is still God.  I'm not sure why I seem to think that I would know what is best for me better than the God who created the whole universe, but there it is.  The God who can see the beginning and the end knows what is going to happen to me and is already making a way for His love and glory to shine even when I don't see the problem yet!  The only thing left is to trust Him.  There have been so many blessings as a result of my moving back to Arkansas that I would have missed if I had gotten my way.  After seeing my plans, I choose God's.  They are way better than mine.  

Have a great week high-heeled warriors!

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