packed in my trunk

"Remember one of the most important things you can pack is flexibility." I was a young mother, about to move to West Africa with my husband and two little boys. An older woman was giving me some advice. I have never forgotten it. During our tumultuous three years there, I needed that flexibility constantly.

And that continues today. I tend to be a bit of a "control freak," liking life the way I think it should be, and most pleased when my "ducks are in a row." Not so life! Yesterday was the day I was to be on jury selection for the federal court. I organized my entire week--even month--around that date and the possible jury duty to follow. It hadn't registered with me that they could postpone my call date. Sure enough, I wasn't needed yesterday, but need to be ready for next week, a week so packed I just can't imagine what I'll do if called to a case.

Mentally I shifted gears for the day that was ahead of me. I'm never unhappy about a free day and fill it all too easily. I sat with my coffee as the day started and read something that a man called James Reed wrote in the 1800s, "Every day that dawns brings something to do which can never be done as well again. We should, therefore, try to do it ungrudgingly and cheerfully. ... We should thank [God] for it with all our hearts, as much as for any other gift. It was designed to be our life, our happiness. Instead of shirking or hurrying over it, we should just put our whole heart and soul into it."