Movies, Olive Garden, and Kids

Today was going to be a cocoon day. I haven't been "home" where I could just sit and read, watch TV, or just zone out in a long time. And today was that day. My plans were to do nothing. But, you know what happens when you don't make plans for yourself: someone else does.

The kids came in at 7:00 a.m., we watched cartoons for a couple of hours. Then, since MeeMaw is still in town, we went to see "Curious George." It was a very family friendly flick, and my kids loved it! Kid films are always funny because it's acceptable to laugh really loudly, and to answer questions all the time.

From there, it was off to the Olive Garden where we were seated quickly enough. Seated quickly and served quickly turn out to be two different things. We were informed that the kitchen was slammed, and we proceeded to wait for an hour for our food. We were seated by a large family with a screaming kid. That was joyous. And, by the time dinner, oh, wait...by the time lunch was over, it was 3:30.

Next stop, the old-fashioned ice-cream shop, where Jeremiah and I put down a bananna split in record time, and Cayla got her signature cotton-candy sundae. The folks at this ice-cream shop know us, and always treat us well.

Then, to the house...but it was 5:30 by then, and our kids missed their naps. So did I. This evening, I have invited a few folks to pop in and talk The Journey with me. I was hoping to be prepared for this evening by getting a good day of rest today. Instead, God was busy doing something else. I don't know about you, but I tend to get cranky when I spend time doing something I hadn't planned on doing, and today was no exception. But, it was super important to spend the day with the family. And, it turned out to be one of those days that Christ used to work on my patience. At the movies, at lunch, and even at the ice-cream shop, God really spoke to me about how I focus on events. I could choose to see it as a wasted day of nagging annoyances (screaming kid at lunch, tired kids at home, no rest for me, and an hour wait for our food to come out), or I could see it as God developing my character. I chose the latter. There are a lot of things to get worked up about in our world, but none of these make God's list, so why should they make mine? I heard an evangelist say once, "If something bothers you, make sure it bothers God before you do something about it. If it doesn't bother God, keep your mouth shut." And honestly, none of the things in my day would bother God even a little. So, I chose to roll instead. And, as it turns out, this was a great way to spend my day; allowing God to shape my character and to do it with people I love. That's a pretty good Saturday.