But It’s Unplanned!

If you know me well, you may learn I love schedules. I’m most comfortable when I’m able to stick to one! My heart is most at peace when my life is orderly, timely, and manageable. If you were to overhear my daily conversations with Jesus, you’d hear him whisper often, “Trust Me with the timetable, Daughter. Focus on loving the people you’re in front of right now.”

This concept was brought to the forefront of my mind and heart recently at the Charis Women At the Table retreat. The workshops and sessions were clearly marked with a time and duration when I first glanced at the schedule. Perfect, I thought to myself. I can relax now!

And yet, I found myself in a workshop with a handful of women who didn’t want to leave when the piece of paper said we were done and were supposed to leave. Multiple times, we were given permission to leave as our time together was technically over. Regardless, most of us simply needed to share our hearts with each other further. The conversation was rich, the laughter deep, and the camaraderie was something only Jesus himself could organize between strangers.

We smiled at the schedule (we were sacrificing scheduled free time!), but then stuck around until we all felt like God’s purpose for our time together had been achieved. The organized purpose was missing, but we saw an opportunity to “sit at the table” with each other and Jesus a little longer—so we did.

It’s easy to only prepare ourselves to sit at the table when it’s scheduled. Our daily devotions, Wednesday nights, Sundays, and the weekly family meal. But the reality is, too often Jesus may use those things to open the door and then he whispers, “Stay a little longer. Your heart needs to be here a little longer.”

The question is, are you willing to stay even when it might not be what you planned?