Providence

I have experienced change recently.  First change, I decided not to return to my full-time teaching position this fall after ten years. Second change, my first born returned to college, and the other two are back to school all day.  Because of my empty, quiet house, this morning I sat wondering what to do with my day…my life.  After reading Proverbs 21 and meditating, I strapped on my walking shoes.  I headed around the neighborhood in my usual direction, but I decided to take an unfamiliar route.  The walk through some quiet, treed paths refreshed my soul and spurred my thinking.  As I crossed a street at a stop sign, three gals from my tennis class pulled up.  They had been playing and had wanted to invite me, but they had written down the wrong number.  (Now, you need some backstory.  My lifelong dream has been to take tennis lessons.  I have harbored a romantic dream that my husband–who is an experienced tennis player–and I would play together. But after raising children and working full time no time had been left for learning tennis until this summer.)  When I moved on from our accidental meeting, I wondered at the providence of God, directing my steps even when I was unaware of his directing, caring for my days even when I had no plans.