This year as I neared my traditional August off, I was exhausted. Certainly there has been the effects of a discombobulating couple of years, but it was more than that. I felt spent, weepy and frankly useless. I found it difficult to plan, to read, to write, there were times I felt I couldn’t even speak coherently. I was looking forward to going up to the cottage with Luna (and Brian) and just being and sleeping. Then I would read books and do pottery, go for walks and get out on the kayak and remember why God put me on this earth. I would sit in the sun and breath in and breath out and just be present in the moment. I would rest and then I would plan and write a new sermon series for the Fall. It was going to be restful and productive. Perfect!

It didn’t quite turn out as I imagined.

At the beginning of August I planned a gathering to celebrate a milestone birthday for Brian. It was so fun and Brian felt honoured and special but it was exhausting.

Throughout the summer we had lots of people visit us up at the cottage. It was wonderful to share our space up North but, it was exhausting.

In mid August we flew to New York for 5 days to go to shows, meet Billy Crystal, see the Blue Jays whip the Yankees, eat delicious meals, see the sights and just embrace the NYC life. It was a brilliant trip but, it was exhausting.

And, so we would soon not forget our wonderful trip, we brought home the souvenir of COVID.

Brian’s symptoms were pretty mild but I was sicker than I had ever been. Two days of high fever and excruciating headache. For five days I didn’t leave my bed. I don’t remember much of those days other than being just plain miserable. I spent another 5 days just watching garbage Netflix shows. Ten days of not having enough energy to read a book, to sit at the pottery wheel, to go for a walk, to paddle a kayak, to sit in the sun and breath in and breath out. I was that exhausted. And as I write this, I am still functioning at a lower ebb with which I am familar.

People ask, did you have a relaxing summer? I am not sure how to answer. Spending 10+ days doing literally nothing (not because I wanted to but because my body gave me no choice) was not how I planned to “relax” but that’s what happened.

I am not complaining and I certainly hope I don’t sound whinny, this is just to say that we might have plans to do x, but it may not pan out they way we thought. So what does that mean?

It means it is ok.

It means that sometimes our plans are not God’s plan.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says we must “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

I believe that it is only when we surrender our lives completely that God can start to work out God’s will in our lives. Let go and trust God, is a pretty good motto.

It means blessed be name of the Lord in the good and the bad.

Romans 8:28 says: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to God’s purpose.”

No, my summer wasn’t the picture-perfect relaxing, rejuvenating summer I had envisioned but we have all lived long enough to know that life doesn’t always go as we plan. What I have come to learn is that these times become opportunities to trust in the Lord, to show myself the same love and grace as I would show my neighbour and learn to embrace the unplanned!