… go awry once in a while. And that’s what happened today, Thanksgiving Day, 2014. To be perfectly honest, I am a little embarrassed about it. Especially after I wrote a post yesterday about having prepared the holiday turkeys for the past 42 years. On top of that, I devoted quite a bit of time to the subject of preparation. And you know what? I fell a little short in the preparation department sometime between last night and this morning.
For starters, Andrew was delayed a little while when we started our preparation last night and we got behind schedule although, to be honest, blaming anything on him would be inappropriate. He was a big help with the dressing and cleaning the bird so, eventually, we got things back on track and it was one of the smoothest evenings we have ever had in getting ready for today.
But that’s about where things started to come off the rails. Andrew and I had agreed to get together at 6:30 this morning to finish our work. Well, his alarm didn’t go off and by the time he finally arrived, we were once again playing catch-up. Four hands are sure better than two when you are trying to get this kind of work done, and as we were getting ready to put the bird in the oven, I remembered that we needed the turkey lifter in place to get the bird out of the pan when the cooking was complete. No worries. It’s in the drawer right beneath the silverware in the kitchen. Except for one thing…
We are in the new place this year for our first Thanksgiving and some of my necessary tools were nowhere to be found. No turkey lifter and one of my favorite pairs of scissors was missing. In fact, we don’t even have a drawer under the silverware drawer anymore. I have no idea where most of this stuff is. We looked everywhere – no luck. So, we improvised and made our own twine basket to make sure that we could get the turkey out of the pan when the time came. We were finally ready to start cooking and everything was going well, even if we were a little late. By the way, I have been wondering all day why I didn’t check this stuff out last night or earlier in the week. After all, this isn’t my first rodeo, if you know what I mean…
But then I made another serious error. I didn’t know where our usual timer was so I decided it would be just as easy to use the timer on the oven. For the first hour that worked great but later in the morning, I noticed that the oven wasn’t as hot as it should be. Much to my dismay, I found that I when I turned the timer off, I inadvertently shut off the entire oven. That’s right, I was basting a turkey that hadn’t been cooking for more than a hour – at least.
Janet was freaking out a little and there was nothing I could do except start it up again. Because at 100 degrees, it would take a very long time for our Thanksgiving feast to ever get done. However, I noticed that there was some setting for “convection” on the oven. I have never used this before but it sounded like a good idea – the instructions I found said that cook times were accelerated when things are cooked with this setting. So, for the first time ever, I have cooked the turkey in our convection oven. Who would have thought? Especially when I have raved about the same prep, and the continuity of how I have cooked turkeys with my family mentors for more than 50 years.
The point of all this is that the reality of the day turned out far different from the plans that I had. That’s a reminder I need to have from time to time. Yes, it is important to plan and do the prep work that is required for success. However, you and I aren’t in control of anything – that’s God’s dominion. But I must make sure that I do everything that will put me in alignment with the will of God for my life. And while God may not choose to get involved in something as mundane as Thanksgiving turkey there are many areas where God’s desire may be far from my desire. Then, it is necessary for me to be flexible and align my will with the will of the Father.
The verse for tonight is from the Proverbs. We are told, in Prov. 19:21, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’S purpose that prevails.” I am sure that you have seen this in your own life. Not our will, but God’s will be done. My encouragement this evening is that God wants us to have plans and to prepare. My prayer is that we are all listening to the Father so that we can be responsive to Him if we find that our plans aren’t exactly what He had in mind for us. Flexibility is the key – I learned that lesson again today! And by the way, in spite of all the twists and turns, the turkey was terrific! Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…