The Art of an Unexpected Action

     You know those times when you do something unexpected? The times you decide to be random, to break out of your comfort zone and do something crazy and abnormal? You don't have times like that? Oh dear, my fear is confirmed! I'm crazy! LOL I think half the randomness of my life is due to occasions like the above
     I wasn't always the most flexible person, nor a
m I one to break rules. But, somewhere along the road I learned to fly by the seat of my pants. My dad once told me something profound that I often think of. "Jacquelyn," he said to me, "Jacquelyn, you have to learn to make your plans in the sand, NOT the cement. In sand God can easily erase and redirect, but cement, he has to pull out the drill and that hurts and takes time." Ya, I was always one to make my plans in the cement. That didn't usually go to well.
     I loved order. Still do sometimes. Every Fall brought the same thing. I was ready to start school. Ya, I know I'm weird like that, but I really was ready. Our new school books would arrive in the mail, my mom would make us new planners, she wrote out the daily schedule and put it on the board downstairs. It was a masterpiece of orderliness and precision. The day came, she woke us up and I stepped down the steps in my fresh new uniform. (Yes, I had to wear a uniform even though I was homeschooled. I blame that on my cousin Kendra! I'm not bitter at all.) Anyways, I stepped down the stairs and started the schedule. 7:30 Breakfast. CHECK. 8:00 Devotions. CHECK. 8:30 Fives (a type of chore). CHECK. then we hit around 9 O'Clock and thats when things got a little sticky. I was scheduled to do history or science, but I had to have mom to teach the lesson. Mom, however, had to deal with another child.
     Every year it was similar yet different. If we were scheduled to go to the zoo it would rain. Planned to go on a field trip to see goats and caleb throws up in the car.....all over kelsey and my's hair. True story. It was gross. But you get the idea. Plans changed, life happened and mom asked me to be flexible. I couldn't handle and would throw a fit. I ended up upstairs in my room, and for several hours, (In which I could have gotten something done) my mom was dealing with my bad attitude. All that to say, it must be a work of God, for me to be able to stray from my predestined path.
     It really started when I could drive, and grew after I had left home. My cousin kerri and I used to randomly pack up, grab lunch, and start to drive. Some of the best vacations I have ever had were the day trips to Grenola KS. God used my father to cause me to realize that one day I would leave home, so I needed to take every moment to pour into my siblings and family while I was still home. One day I decided to pour into my brother, and took him to a movie. It was the Christmas Carol. We had the whole theater to ourselves. I'll never forget that day. I cant tell you how many times I have called up a friend to say, "Hey are you do anything right now? Good lets go on an adventure!" Maybe it was coffee and chilling at grandmas. Maybe it was a walk in the woods that turned into an interesting endevour, maybe it was a picnic, ice cream or a sonic happy hour. Whatever it was it was always memorable. God began to grow a love for change and travel within me. Good thing to since I've moved about 5 times in the last 2 years.
   Leaving home makes you realize how much you miss those moments you spend with others. The moments to irrationally throw yourself into a situation that turns out to be a fantastic memory. Some of my best memories are from exactly that. The time my cousin kerri and I randomly left the city, packed up and headed to the land for the day. Or the spur of the moment movie with my little sisters and two cousins their age. The millions of instant picnics, the times I would decide to "drop by" someones house. They are moments I will never forget! And I will never regret! Do something spontaneous! Not for yourself, the pleasure you get from it. No, do it because life is short. God put us here to do something. To leave a hand-print on lives. Not our hand print, no. A hand print of someone much greater. HIM.