One of those [joyful] weeks

I give up.

That is what I was tempted to say to myself this morning as I was waking up. So far, this has been one of 'those' weeks where best laid plans + good intentions seem not to pan out more frequently that I would like.

I was planning on the weather being warmer so I could get back to running outside this week. It wasn't.

I was planning to sit down and blog on Monday (like the new usual). It didn't happen.

I was planning on our family budget meeting this week being simple. It was complicated.

I was planning on folding the laundry that has been sitting in the dryer for a few days. It's still sitting there.

I planned a Bible study last night for the young adult group I lead. We didn't do it.

I planned on getting up earlier than usual today. I didn't.


All of these plans for my week not happening, truly are not a big deal. Definitely not defeating enough for me to be tempted to think that damaging thought 'I give up' anyways. Most everything just worked out differently from my personal intended outcome.

I was planning on the weather being warmer so I could get back to running outside this week. I went to work with Adam so I could do some speed based workouts in the middle school gym.

I was planning to sit down and blog on Monday (like the new usual). I'm blogging now.

I was planning on our family budget meeting this week being simple. We realized we weren't keeping the best track of checking our spending against our budget plan when a month was over. So before we started this month's budget, we had some backtracking work to do. We gained new insight into working together with our money.

I was planning on folding the laundry that has been sitting in the dryer for a few days. Adam is generally easy going about having to go to the dryer for clothes instead of his drawer, so far :)

I planned a Bible study last night for the young adult group I lead. We had good conversation about their involvement in the church community, church in general, and how they want to grow.

I planned on getting up earlier than usual today. I still had time to do everything I needed to do before leaving for work.



Too often I think we (especially us girls!) put high expectations on ourselves to see plans through. No one wants to have a bad day, be unproductive, or not finish projects - but the reality is that we can never plan for life. When I let the unplanned or unfinished parts of my days stack up in my mind, it's too easy to have a bad attitude or get frustrated - and that is just silly!


The temptation of saying 'I give up, this week isn't going great so far, maybe next week will be better' is one temptation that I believe robs us of the joy that each day has potential to bring.

Joy seems like the best choice to me. Planning for joy is impossible, living joyfully is not only possible but can fill every day with strength + hope.