Lessons from Mimi
Mimi is very upset with me. Mimi is my new rescue dog. She is 4 years old and the smallest corgi I have ever seen. But she doesn’t have a small will. Oh no! It’s the size of Milwaukee. She is upset because I have been working on my front garden and I will not take her out with me.
Mimi has proven to be an immovable force when she decides to go on an adventure. She will not come when called and she manages to allude my every attempt to catch her. In other words, she will not listen. And she doesn’t know there is danger out there for a little dog.
I can see the neighbor backing out his SUV at the end of the street. I know he will speed down the street while talking on his cell. But Mimi doesn’t realize this. I see the strange big dog turning onto my street from the main road. I do not know if this dog is friendly or will attack Mimi. But Mimi doesn’t see this dog. I hear the concrete trucks rumbling by on an adjacent street. Mimi may hear them, but she has no idea of what they are or how quickly they can kill or maim her.
How often am I, God’s beloved daughter, like Mimi? I get a great idea. I have a spark of determination and a thirst for adventure. And then off I go. Sometimes everything is wonderful. But sometimes I meet up with roadblocks or end this particular journey with heartbreak. And I pout and weep and wonder why.
Simply, it is because I did not ask my Father if He would bless my big idea; if it was part of His plan for my life or even if He thought it was a good idea or not. I plunge forward completely oblivious of His guidance (or disparaging at the thought of including God). I will not ask and I do not listen. And so I live with the consequences, my disappointments; sometimes I live with disaster or a scar that remains for the rest of my life.
God can see down the road. He knows what awaits me. And like all good fathers, He wants my way to be safe. But he will not interfere with me when I ignore His love and His guidance. Thankfully, He will help me pick up the pieces afterwards if I ask for His forgiveness and for His help. In our own eyes, the pieces of a broken vase, even mended, are never quite as beautiful as one that has never been broken. However, Ecclesiastes 3:11 speaks another Word: “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
And so I wait for His time and His timing. My Papa has proven that His plans for my life are always so much better than the plans I conceive from my own selfishness, childishness and cluelessness. His destiny for me is far grander and beyond my imagination. I have learned to make my dreams huge if God is in them. He is, and they are!
Sandi Savell
