[1]

Proverbs 16:9 Christian Standard Bible

⁹A person’s heart plans his way,
but the Lord determines his steps.

Sylvia’s family holds a family reunion biannually. This year we had plans to leave home on July 1 and visit family and friends up in the northwest. Then we would drive across the northern states to Wisconsin and Michigan—hoping to avoid some of the summer heat. From there we planned to drive down to North Carolina for the reunion and then home.

Sylvia came down with a fever of over 102º F (39º C) June 28. Nothing we did would bring her fever down, and on July 2 she was admitted to hospital. They diagnosed her with pneumonia and kept her there three days. They tested her twice for COVID-19 and declared that she was not part of the pandemic. Dad told me several times that pneumonia is an old man’s friend because it usually takes him and removes him from all of his problems. Fortunately, this didn’t happen for Sylvia.

We debated about what we should do as far as the reunion trip was concerned. A week went by, and Sylvia continued to regain her strength. She indicated that we should give it a try. There was no way we could pursue our original plans on account of the time we had available. So, we decided to skip the Northwest part of our trip. We left home on the 12^th of July and had a great trip. We made it home on the 24^th of August—the day we had originally planned to get home.

At times I wonder if God stepped in and didn’t want us to leave when we had planned to. That is highly unlikely, of course. It was definitely providential that when Sylvia took ill, we were at home and not on the road in some strange place. This way we could get treatment at familiar places. It has taken her time to recover her strength, but she is fine now.

Thank You, Lord, for overruling our lives for our own best good!

[1] Camping in Ottumwa, Iowa

Thursday, November 16, 2017

WE PLAN--GOD DIRECTS

Proverbs 16:9

King James Version (KJV)

⁹A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.

Sylvia picked an eclipse atlas off of the coffee table the other day. “Are you going to use this again?” Her obsession these days is to throw away, give away, or otherwise dispose of any object I don’t absolutely have to have.

“No, I’ll probably never look at it again. You can put it in the giveaway box.”

We had planned to view the August 21 eclipse this past summer. We wanted to drive north into Idaho where the eclipse would have been very visible. Later we planned to drive with our son Fred into Oregon and view it there. I had bought the atlas to show us where the best viewing was to be.

Earlier we took a trip east to Tennessee to Sylvia’s family reunion. It had lasted the better part of six weeks, and we had seen a lot of friends besides her family. I was still recovering from the West Nile Virus, and by the time I reached home, I was exhausted. A number of the symptoms like bouts of extreme fatigue, balance impairment, and headaches had reared their ugly heads.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that a rushed trip north with long drives and little sleep would just not be good for my weakened condition. So I bowed out as gracefully as I could. Instead I organized an eclipse party for our Better Than 50 Club so we could at least see the partial eclipse here.

I am still disappointed that I didn’t get to view the total eclipse, but I realize that it was the best for my health. I don’t want any recurrence of that awful disease.

Thank You, Lord directing my steps in the past. Help me to follow Your directions on a daily basis, too.