Baxter and I have been studying the Feasts of Israel. We had the Rosh Hashanah meal..blew the shofar… and participated online in a Rosh Hashanah service. It made a deep impression on us…that the Feasts point to our Messiah.

So we went on to observe the Days of Awe after that and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It was natural to think we could also observe Sukkot. I knew I couldn’t build a sukah and all my men are in school or have jobs with long hours. I decided to order a three-sided tent.

Poor Baxter was going to be eating in a tent. He never knows what I might do…but he was excited when I told him.

Everything was going well. I knew when I would cook what food for the celebration…by the way, it lasts for days. I figured out how I would decorate the tent. We were on the way. We would celebrate Sukkot.

The tent was set to arrive right at the beginning of Sukkot. Then I got a notification it would be a day late. Then the next day another notification…another day late. Finally, after the third day, I began to look for another tent. Then voila! Notification that the tent would be here the next day.

The tent arrived and I set about unpacking it and setting it up. We would celebrate that night! Little did I know what lay ahead. I started out following instructions and all was going well until I was instructed to “push in the red button on the center portion and push up. There was no button on the center portion, so it would not push the top up.

Not to be defeated, I again followed instructions and sent an email to customer service with my order number. It said I would hear something in 24 hours…that was days and days ago.

I tell that story to illustrate this point; “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the LORD weighs the motives. Commit your works to the LORD, and your plans will be established.” Proverbs 16:1-3 NASB

When things don’t go as planned, I just step back to see if the LORD will reveal “why”. In my younger years, I would have been upset, frustrated, and completely outdone. Now, however, after living years of life with Him, I realize that when plans go awry or completely break down, He has a better plan. Or I have not completed the plans as He desired. I need to change my plan and still celebrate Him. Life is lived so much better with this attitude.

Now I have no idea why that tent didn’t work out. Maybe Abba God wants me to build a traditional sukka. Begin my preparations sooner. Engage family help. I really have no idea. But one thing I am certain of…He always has His reasons and His plans are ALWAYS best.