Back home tonight after our weekly friday night date night with the Mrs... We usually go to the local Pei Wei and take advantage of the specials and eat healthy but, tonight, we decided to opt for something different. Nothing too expensive but healthy. We wound up at a restaurant in downtown McKinney considered to be one of the staples here called Spoons.
After enjoying a nice meal, we went for a walk and, wouldn't you know it, there's a new woman's clothing store that is one of the Mrs's favorites still open!.. What luck.. They just opened their new location in McKinney, as a matter of fact (Glitzy Girls). The store is now in a place where there had been an art studio/photo processing service for a long time. At the end of a few long.. slightly painful 'man minutes' of choosing, we walked out with a great priced top the Mrs will wear with joy.
Not that I'm pushing woman's clothes, restaurants, or our home town, but that, after living here for the past eight years and spending a great deal of time downtown, we've seen a lot of stores come and go. No matter what direction we look, there's something new coming in or something old moving out.
Our lives are like that too. As I get older, I can look back at those stairs I climbed to see different directions I took throughout life. I can see the many challenges I went through. The many times I climbed the slippery steps and nearly fell and the times I did slip and fall. The times I got to where I wanted to be only to find my life going in a totally different direction.
During my college days at ORU there was one moto we heard often, 'Expect the Unexpected'. That anticipation of a miracle, or of God doing something in our lives we never planned for. One thing stands constant with the unexpected: It will come whether we like or not. Ready or not, here it comes!..
A couple lessons from all of the changes of life's directions and the continual changing flow of life I've learned is just to go with the flow, trust God, look for the good in every situation, and take one day at a time. Easier said than done for sure! Yet, when my plans get changed, when tragedies happen, when that new grandchild is announced, when that job changes, or whatever it is, I've learned that we're all in this ever changing flow of life together.
Keeping perspective and expecting that life could change tomorrow, tonight, in a minute from now in ways that could change the direction of our life will lessen the surprise and help us to handle whatever it is that comes our way. Be encouraged my friend. Life will definitely throw us that curve ball when we least expect it. Hang in there, though. Know there are those here who do care and want to help you along that path. And, if you're still waiting for that miracle that seems will never happen like I am, look up and join me in 'Expecting the Unexpected' together!..
Have a blessed weekend friend and you are loved!
Brad
