Sometimes Things Don’t Go as Planned<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes things don\u2019t go as planned.  We envisioned a fun day hanging out, getting shrimp, and then having a shrimp boil to close out the day.  I have to admit, I was disappointed with the day.  I read the fourth chapter of Philippians three or four times to get my attitude in check.  It reminded me of a lot of things I needed to hear on this less-than-perfect day.  I was reminded to \u201crejoice in the Lord always.\u201d Surely an exception to the word \u201calways\u201d would be when your vehicle breaks down and you are stranded at Big Lots. But as I read, \u201cagain I say rejoice\u201d, I knew that even days like this were included.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I continued to read and saw something else in the fourth chapter of Philippians that again got my attention.  I read, \u201cdo not be anxious about anything\u2026\u201d  again, my situation must be the exception to this verse\u2026. \u201cbut by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.\u201d  Really, Lord?  Pray about this?  Don\u2019t be anxious?  \u201cand the peace of God\u2026\u201d  well, I could use some peace right now\u2026. \u201dthe peace of God which transcends all understanding\u201d\u2026. well it would have to because this is no time for peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok\u2026 I\u2019m starting to get it.  Life is hard\u2026. sometimes things don\u2019t go as planned, but we can have peace.  No, it doesn\u2019t make sense, and I\u2019m not a very willing student when it comes to learning the lessons the Lord is teaching me.   So, now that He had my attention, I continued to read the passage\u2026  \u201cwhatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable  – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.\u201d  Ok, so I realized I needed to think about something else other than our broken-down Ford Excursion.  No, there\u2019s just no way\u2026. but wait, what does verse 13 say?\u2026 \u201cI can do all this through Him who gives me strength.\u201d  Well\u2026 I could use some strength right about now\u2026.  and as if the Lord could hear me questioning how all of this would really work out, I was reminded in verse 19 that \u201cmy God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok, Lord\u2026. I get it!  I\u2019m not enjoying the lesson, but I\u2019m learning to trust and depend on You each day.  The day had not gone as we had planned, but what we discovered was a friend who came to our rescue with just a simple phone call. And I was reminded of how our needs had been met just as I had read in the fourth chapter of Philippians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was glad to see my bed that night when we finally made it home.  No, it had not been our best Sampling the South<\/strong> trek, but tomorrow would be a new day.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had our shrimp boil the next day after church.  I seasoned the water with Zatarain\u2019s Crab Boil and brought it to a boil just like my father had taught me years ago.  The secret is to season the water just right, add the shrimp, and bring it to a rolling boil for a full five minutes – but no more.  Then let the shrimp soak as long as you like so that the seasoning penetrates the shells of the shrimp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I learned that lesson about cooking the best boiled shrimp from my father a very long time ago. He taught me a lot of things in life that I\u2019m still using today.  And I thought about the lessons I\u2019m learning from my heavenly Father.  Sometimes it feels like we are the shrimp in that hot boiling water. But if we are patient and allow it to penetrate through our hard shells, it won\u2019t last that long and we will be well seasoned to those we come in contact with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please excuse me while I go read the fourth chapter of Philippians again.  I want to make sure I learn this lesson quickly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sampling the South<\/strong>\u2026.sometimes our days come with lessons. I hope we learn our lessons quickly and make them count for tomorrow so that we are well seasoned for those we come in contact with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past weekend, Cavin and I along with our son Preston and his girlfriend Joy decided to make the trek to Joe Patti\u2019s Seafood Market located on Pensacola Bay\u2026  And a trek it was! It’s Getting Hot! We started out in the Ford Excursion, but on this particularly HOT Summer day, the AC wasn\u2019t working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"WB4WB4WP_MODE":"","WB4WP_PAGE_SCRIPTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_STYLES":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FONTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_HEADER":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FOOTER":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[129,128,57,56,127,131,124,126,125,130,132],"class_list":["post-1109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-big-lots","tag-boiled-shrimp","tag-cavin-cawthon","tag-charlotte-cawthon","tag-joe-patti","tag-marc-edge","tag-pensacola","tag-pensacola-bay","tag-pensacola-florida","tag-shrimp-boil","tag-zatarains"],"yoast_head":"\n