When things don't go our way

Sometimes, things don't go the way we'd like them to go. Perhaps we have a plan for our day, a hope for a relaxing, calm, quiet day, which instead turns out to be a day full of phone calls and errands and many things to do. Perhaps we have a dream for our career, but our real life work seems not to be what we had thought it would be. Perhaps we had a vision of what our family life would be, but our marriage or our children isn't exactly what we expected. We have a choice when things don't go the way that we thought that they would. We can get upset and angry, taking out our disappointment in ways that show the world that we are unhappy. Or we can stop for a minute to think about twists and turns on our path that may not be what we planned, but may lead us where we need to go. Think about Abraham and Sarah, asked to leave their homeland at quite an advanced age to go to a place God would show them. Abraham could have argued, after all he probably had not envisioned himself moving so late in life. But he went on a journey that led him to a new land, a new faith, where he was blessed to be a blessing. As people of faith, we are part of a community that is larger than ourselves, larger than our families, larger than our own personal wants and desires. Sometimes, things do not always go the way we would like or the way we had hoped. But as Christians, as part of the body of Christ, we are called to be part of this kingdom of God that is greater than ourselves. Certainly, sometimes we are disappointed, sometimes we grumble about the path that we seem to be on, but God is with us, calling us to see beyond ourselves to care for the greater good, to be part of his kingdom.