Don't Forget to Pack a Lunch

This post is by Shaina Weisgerber.

I was so excited to make a new recipe recently. I’ve been using an online meal planning service, and I was excited to follow the meal plan for the week. I got everything out and started to prepare the meal and then half way through realized I was missing an ingredient. Ugh. I had to stop everything, go get the ingredient, come back, finish cooking and the whole process was disrupted. Just today I was on my way to the gym and realized I left my earbuds at home and I had to turn around to get them, making me late and disrupting the day’s plan. Last year I had planned on taking my kids lunch to their school, but did not write it down and I totally forgot. My girls were upset and I was so frustrated at myself for forgetting by being distracted and busy at the moment. 

Can you relate? I hope I am not alone here. We all have moments where we just straight up forget something. Life happens, and we make a mistake. Let’s talk about making mistakes that are preventable if we would just take the time to plan better. 

God time, Plan time, Move time. These three steps are what make up the morning routine for Hello Mornings. Simple, yet powerful. 

I want to encourage you to just think about Plan Time for a moment. Many of us have a calendar or an agenda, a paper planner or even a calendar app. How many of us actually use it regularly? We can have all the tools in the world, but without using them they are not doing anything for us. In order for us to live out the day that God is calling us to live, we must take some responsibility to plan out what that looks like. When we live scattered and unplanned, we can get overwhelmed and forgetful. We can easily let others and ourselves down when we don’t take the time to simply look and plan ahead. 

In Luke, Jesus is speaking to the crowds and is using parables. There are a number of parables and in one of them he asks, “for which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, “this man began to build and was not able to finish.” (Luke 14:28-30)

What an odd little example to use in the middle of some amazing lessons. What this scripture encourages me to do is take the time to make a plan. We know that God’s plan is ultimately at play. He is sovereign, in control and has all things in His hands. He has also given us the responsibility to plan according to His ways and for His glory. 

When we fail to plan where we can, we can really hurt others. My children forgave me quickly, but missing their lunch was extremely hard on their little hearts (and tummies). I wish I had planned better and did not have to apologize and lose some of their trust in the process. The next time I told them I would bring them lunch, they brought a lunch just in case. True story.

We won’t always have a perfect plan, and we most certainly won’t stick to it exactly every day of our lives. We can’t know what kind of traffic we will run into or what delays we will experience. We can’t know which kid will get sick or if the car won’t start one morning. We can know that if we have a structure and a plan in place as best as we know how, God can then show us how to serve well, love well and show up here He most needs us to. We can be available, without question, for our spouses, kids, coworkers and church community. I encourage you to start somewhere. Maybe just use a post-it note by your bed and during your three minute morning routine, during plan time, just jot down the three big things for the day. Just beginning to look ahead to the whole day can help you open your mind, heart and calendar for the things God has for you and your family.

Shaina Weisgerber lives in the Texas panhandle with her husband Nick, a graphic designer/financial coach/drummer and her two daughters, ages 11 and 7. Nick and Shaina had a son between their two daughters, he was born with heart defects and passed away at 5 months old. Since then Shaina has longed to help other women seek and experience the goodness and healing of God in everyday life. Shaina was a staff worship pastor for years and is now currently managing a local flower shop! In her “spare time”, whatever that is, she loves being with her family, leading worship for small gatherings, reading, cooking, and writing for Hello Mornings and her personal blog Sycamore & Sparrow. Join her on instagram @sycamoreandsparrow and on Facebook at Sycamore & Sparrow or join her newsletter by going to www.sycamoresparrow.wordpress.com/blog

Photo by Sandra Harris on Unsplash