Another Productive Day ....

.... in more ways than one.

I finished the laundry, and finished packing by late afternoon.
I paid bills, left my Mom with a boat load of instructions, and changed my mind two or three times about what to leave in the suitcase and what to leave at home.
And then tonight two of the sons and I went to see "Men in Black 3".  I liked it.  Not as well as the first, but then there aren't many movies that are good as the first.
But it was still a fun movie.

I also communicated with someone that I used to know pretty well.  But lately I seem to be finding out that times does change things .... and people.
Sometimes it doesn't even take a lot of time for that to happen.
And that's neither good nor bad.  It's just what happens .... sometimes.

This person made a decision today that at first I didn't agree with.  And I wondered how I might get my point across, to maybe impact this decision.
But after having most of the day to myself, to pack, to think, to plan what we would do after we arrive tomorrow, and to communicate off and on during the day with each of my children ..... I realized that this person had probably made the right decision.

The "before Janine" would most likely have taken a lot longer to realize that ..... to see that her plan wasn't a better plan.
But, as I have said more than once during the last 4 years ..... life is too damn short to fight certain battles.
And most skirmishes.
And it's way too short to think that your plan has to be the best plan.

 So, after having a long discussion with God .... I let go of what I thought was best.  Because it really wasn't.  And I can admit that now.  In fact, I'm pretty darn thankful that I didn't get my way.

 At  first I thought I wouldn't be happy if I didn't get my way.  But now I know that I probably wouldn't have been all that happy if I had.
Sometimes I think I know what's best for me .... only to find out later that I didn't know all that much.
Actually, I find out all of the time that I don't know all that much.  :)

I'm trying to be less stubborn.
All 6 of our children come by it honestly.  Both of their parents could be quite stubborn, when push came to shove.

But today ....  today I thankfully realized earlier than usual, that sometimes I sell myself short by making the wrong decision. Or by thinking something should go my way.
So I let go, and decided that I deserve more than selling myself short.  I deserve a lot more.

And I realized that what I thought was my way .... was not going to be the best way for me.
I decided that I want the best way.
I want the very best way.

Life is too short to want anything less.
Life is too short to accept anything less.
I'm going to do my best to keep that in mind.

And to keep in mind that God really wants the best for me, for all of us.
But when we sell ourselves short, by thinking we know what's best .... we sometimes miss "the best" by a long shot.

You know .... it's funny.  At the times in my life when I've given up having my own way .... it's almost always been a relief.  And yet I still can't always see that.
God must get really exasperated with us humans sometimes.
Or maybe with just me.
:)

So, at the end of this day (actually, it's really the beginning of the next day since it's almost 2:30 a.m.  The boys just went to bed after finishing up their packing)  I'm a lot happier, and a lot more relieved, than I was at the beginning of this day.
Which just goes to show .... that no matter how old we get, we still need to be reminded once in a while (?!) that our way ..... is a whole lot less than "the best way".
And God's way .... is usually something better than anything we could've dreamed up.

Happy Saturday, Peeps.
I'll see you from Mexico soon.
:)