One Step Ahead of Disaster Ain't Too Bad

One small gift of fear-perfectionism is that I'm usually well-prepared. Well-prepared. Days ahead of time. I did well in school because I looked at the syllabus and crossed out several days I would need to write papers well ahead of the deadlines, and then, usually, I took those days and actually wrote the papers, so I wasn't staying up the night before. Not me. Nope. Too much stress doing that. And Lord knows, I don't think well under stress. Proven time and again--I do NOT think well under stress.

My denomination's General Assembly is in my town this year, starting tomorrow. I signed up to help, chairing the Guest Reception Committee. They told me long ago to gather a committee of about 10-12 people in preparation of meeting about 30 VIP's flights at the airport. And have a welcome basket for each of them. No problem. Earlier this year they told me, Oh, it's looking like only 20 VIPs. That's great, I thought. Really, no problem. So I went on vacation a couple of weeks ago and didn't give it a thought.

Last week I still hadn't received any information about flight times, but I wasn't worried. Finally, on Friday I get the list and it has 17 flights on it. Pretty good. No problem. I work a retreat at my church from 7:30 until mid-afternoon and put in about 3 hours getting the list and my volunteer information organized. Sunday comes and we have regular worship plus a board meeting and I have a pastoral care emergency that lasts several hours. Still I'm not worried. Well, you get where this is going.

I've spent the whole of this week one step ahead of absolute disaster on getting VIP's picked up --OR NOT--from the airport. Seventeen was just the beginning. Sketchy information. People notifying us at the very last minute (one musician just this morning, and here it is Friday, asking for pickup THIS MORNING!). Welcome baskets for people we're not picking up. Things like that.

One step ahead of disaster is just not my style, people.

The interesting thing here is that, while I've made my share of boo-boos (giving people the wrong cell-phone numbers for the most part) and I'm bone tired, I'm not upset, I'm not in a bad mood, I'm not HATING MY JOB, I'm not depressed, I'm not anything negative at all. I feel pretty darn good, actually!

Today is Friday and it's the first day I'm not working a 12-hour day since Saturday.
I slept until 6:40 am. I've done some work here at home. I'm meeting a wonderful friend for lunch at 1:00, then going into the church, and I'll probably work until 7:00 pm or so, making sure Saturday is covered. But I feel refreshed and I'm looking forward to the afternoon. Whoa! What's going on here?

Life is good. God is amazing.

Comments

Linda said…
Maybe it was the vacation that helped. :)

I'm looking forward to seeing you. I'll give you a call later this afternoon or evening and see if we can find a time to sneak away from GA and catch up a bit.
Jan said…
Maybe your dependence upon God is producing fruit? Glad you're doing okay with all the surprise arrivals, with baskets no less. Hope you enjoy the weekend.
Katherine E. said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Katherine E. said…
Thanks to you both.

Linda, I'll look forward to your call. If you don't catch me, leave me your cell phone number, OK?
Rev SS said…
God is good! Don't you love it when you get to experience the meaning of the phrase "the peace that passes understanding"? Blessings,
Diane M. Roth said…
or, could it be the Holy Spirit? Hmmm? (trying to talk like the Church Lady)
you are floating on grace.
Gannet Girl said…
OK with you if I add your journal to a set of links I'm sending to the Wednesday Festival?
Katherine E. said…
Gannet Girl, yes of course! (what is the Wednesdsay Festival? is it connected to Chatauqua in some way?)
Katherine E. said…
Oh. Wednesday Festival is RGBP. Duh. Thanks, GG.
Kathryn said…
Oh my goodness....I'm never more than one step away from disaster...unless the deadline is whistling in my ears I can't even bring myself to start preparations! But this was lovely reading - and when I next need some help with learning to plan in advance, I'll surely know who to ask.
Thanks for visiting my place and being so positive...good reading here too :-)

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