This is not what I planned...

"This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the scriptures say, 'It is through faith that a righteous person has life.'" - Romans 1:17 NLT

You wanna make God laugh? Tell him your plans.

I'm sure we've all heard that one. Looking back at my week, that statement couldn't have been any more true:

I don't believe I'd mentioned it in my last post but, last Friday, my husband came home from work because he wasn't feeling well. My husband is not the type to frivolously take days off, so I knew it had to be serious!

When he came home, he let me know that he'd been feeling very weak and that his stomach was feeling unsettled. He spent the rest of the day mainly in bed getting rest, only getting up to go back and forth to the bathroom...(I'll leave the rest to your imagination!)

While it was unsettling to see my husband, who's usually "up and at 'em" not feeling well, I tried to make him feel as comfortable as I could - getting him anything and everything that he needed. I knew he'd do the same for me...

Little did I know how soon he'd return the favor.

Gratefully, my husband was feeling better by the next evening. My husband had all types of presumptions about what brought on his sickness - exhaustion, something he ate, etc.

...but my guess - which I prayed was incorrect - was that he'd gotten a stomach bug. I'd had a few stomach bugs in the past and, though they're typically short-lived, they are no fun! And also highly contagious...

That Sunday came and I was still feeling great. I figured, if it was a bug, it had bypassed me.

Until...

I woke up early Monday morning with a gurgling stomach. Before I started work, I had to "unload" 2 times.

Uh oh!

Still, I tried to start my workday by logging on to our usual Monday meeting. While logged in, I found myself sooo tired and my stomach was still feeling upset. There was no way I was making it through the work day. I texted my boss afterwards and I took a sick day.

Now, let me tell you how this messed up my plans, so far:

I'd gotten tickets for Mary J. Blige's For My Fans Tour show in Greensboro on Thursday. My plan was to use 2 "sick"days for the day of the show and the day after. What I wasn't counting on was really being sick and needing to use sick days earlier in the week! Now, my plans for getting ready and relaxing after were completely thrown off ☹️

So, yeah.

On Monday, I was down bad.

Just like my husband, I spent majority of the day in bed. Between all of the "unloading" and my lack of an appetite, I really didn't have much energy to do anything else. On top of everything, I'd done some leg workouts that weekend that left my lower body feeling so sore, which made it challenging to get comfortable.

Just as I'd showed up for him while he was sick, my AMAZING man showed up for me, even more so!

He brought home a beautiful bouquet of flowers and set them beside me.

He brought me a tray of chicken noodle soup, crackers, and ginger ale (which, sadly, I couldn't each much of).

He massaged my sore lower body with ICY Hot.

He set up the room to make me comfortable - even brought a microwave in our room so I didn't have far to go!

Ahhh...I just love him. I thank God that He blessed me with someone so incredible to do life with. (Shout out to you, Babe!)

After two days out of work, I was back feeling like my normal self. Thank you, Jesus!

Thursday - MJB concert day - comes and I am nowhere near as prepared as I'd hoped to be:

My hair was not done.

My nails were not done.

I had no outfit together.

I'd originally planned to take this day off as a "prep day" to get my hair/nails done and run any last minute errands to complete my look. With me being sick, not only did I have to work a full day, but I also hadn't even given much thought to how I wanted to look!

And I had very little time to get it together...

I tried my hardest to work diligently and get through all of the tasks that I needed to complete for the workday as soon as I could.

I ended up finished around 3:30pm. To get there on time, I needed to leave around 6:20pm. That left me, not even 3 hours to get myself fully together for the show.

*gulp*

After scarfing down some food, I was out the door around 4pm to run a few quick errands. As much as I wanted to go the mall to look for an outfit, that would've ate up too much of my time. I had to settle for what was nearby:

I zipped through Rainbow. Didn't see much there, but I did end up getting this super cute black fur bag (which I later learned that I couldn't wear due to the clear bag policy).

Next, I went to Target. I grabbed a few makeup essentials and headed to browse the clothing area. Unfortunately, nothing was really giving MJB concert...but I did grab some gold hoops and bangles.

After the Target run, it was clear: I was going to have to make something shake with what I had at home.

I got to the house right before 5pm. I rummaged through my closet and drawers and tried on several options (the way us girls usually do!). Finally, I decided on a grown & sexy look: a white blouse topped with a black graphic tee that says "90s", light washed ripped jeans, and my black knock-off Givenchy shark lock boots.

With a fight, I was able to tame my uber-thick hair into a sleek low bun (much thanks to my sister Asante for her hair tips!).

By the time I finished with all of that, it was close to 6pm. Unfortunately, there was no time for make-up. I decided that I would at least apply some strip lashes and wear a colored gloss to give me a "made up" feel. I decided to wear my patterned Michael Kors glasses to complete my look and add visual interest to my face. I was finally ready and I was able to head out the door around 6:30p!

There was traffic (as expected) but, fortunately, I was able to make it inside by 7:10 to enjoy a night with Mario, Ne-Yo, and Mary J. Blige!!

Mario serenaded us with effortless vocals.

Ne-Yo entertained us with all of the 2000's hits.

Mary J. Blige slayed - everything from her impressive sets, her beautiful looks, and the songs that we've been singing for 30+ years!

My sister-friend Crystal and I sang our hearts out the entire night and had an amazing time. Check out a few clips from some of the performances!

I know this post was kinda long-winded - at least it seems that way as I type it - but I guess the point of it all is this: even when our plans fail, know that God's plans are still in motion.

Numerous times this week, I found myself saying, "Had it gone to my plan..." The reality is that I don't know what "my plan" going through truly would've looked like. I don't know if I would've missed out on things that I needed to know/experience. I don't have the all-knowing perspective that God has.

It's great to plan and prepare but, in putting together those plans, we must always be ready and willing to yield to God's plans for us, cheerfully. As scripture says, "Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails." (Proverbs 19:21).

As you can see, though my week was filled with inconveniences...everything worked out in the end!

(Just as He promised that it would!)