Like many of my readers, I once laughed my way through the 1982 Eddie Murphy comedy film titled “48 Hrs.” Since then, I have also tuned in to more than one episode of the long-running CBS News/Documentary series titled “48 Hours”. On occasion, I have also lived a remarkable 48 hours on my own. One such example unfolded over the last two days.
We had been hearing for a week that snow was coming. But given that we had been burned by local weather forecasters and all the accompanying hype that comes with their prognosticating in the past, we did not initially put much stock in their recent predictions.
But when schools and businesses began to announce closings, it quickly became apparent that “Snowmageddon 2024” was indeed about to hit here in East Tennessee. So, we quickly made a trip to the store to garner what was left on the shelves. Thereafter, we primed the generator and battened down the hatches. Shortly after this, our children, their spouses, and their children joined my wife and me to hunker down and wait out the storm.
But as nature did her thing, and as the snow piled up, our sequestering soon turned into a blessing. In the daylight hours, we ventured forth into the snow and spent hours sledding and building snowmen (which were then assaulted with baseball bats as per a piñata), before finishing off the days with wicked snowball fights. In the evening hours, we played “Trouble”, “Concentration”, “Aggravation”, and “Spades”. We also built Legos, played with Hot Wheels and Match Boxes, and colored amazing pictures of superheroes.
And then, to top it all off, we watched every King Kong movie ever made while scarfing down voluminous amounts of waffles, bacon, strawberries, blueberries, popcorn, Doritos, Dill Pickle chips, Slim Jims, cheese sticks, cookies, powdered doughnuts, cupcakes, sour gummy worms, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and french fries, all of which was washed down with copious amounts of Danimals Smoothie Yogurts and Dr. Pepper!
Of course, all of this was a major imposition of “Yours Truly’s” plans! You see, even in my retirement, my propensity is to plan, to plan, and to plan. And then to do, to do, and to do! I cannot help it. It is my nature! And thus it was that I had a long list of things I had originally intended to accomplish over the last 48 hours.
But on occasion, the Lord steps in and supersedes my well-laid plans. It seems that He never intended for me to complete my list of “To Do” items over the last two days. Instead, He intended for me to spend this time with my family. And I am quite glad He did!
In the Old Testament Book of Proverbs (chapter 16, verse 9), the Bible tells us that “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.” This is tantamount to saying that the Lord knows infinitely more what we need to experience and accomplish than we ever could.
In this particular case, I’m sure glad He did. I shudder to think what all I would have missed out on otherwise!
As I pen these words, I am mindful of the wisdom proffered by my forebears, who said that if a snowfall ever lay on the ground for three days, it was certain to come again. Right now, heading into the last trimester of this most recent 72 hour period, this aphorism appears to have genuine significance. Already, the prognosticators are calling for more snow in two days.
Given this, I so look forward to yet “Another 48 hours”!”
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/proverbs/16-9.htm.
SEE ALSO:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/48_Hours;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_48_Hrs.
CF.:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOVlwnBqxd6IvFmREmzEUeR3U_sS5IBxpa4I141y2_5l7HoxKkvVugpBo8A6RVwug/photo/AF1QipPx3XJ10IMJXo86TDVutj_fsaoVQ4M5eT3milxw?key=N002U1l3cTI0eUhRcElBNDItSERDZ0U1Vzd2VWpR.
We had been hearing for a week that snow was coming. But given that we had been burned by local weather forecasters and all the accompanying hype that comes with their prognosticating in the past, we did not initially put much stock in their recent predictions.
But when schools and businesses began to announce closings, it quickly became apparent that “Snowmageddon 2024” was indeed about to hit here in East Tennessee. So, we quickly made a trip to the store to garner what was left on the shelves. Thereafter, we primed the generator and battened down the hatches. Shortly after this, our children, their spouses, and their children joined my wife and me to hunker down and wait out the storm.
But as nature did her thing, and as the snow piled up, our sequestering soon turned into a blessing. In the daylight hours, we ventured forth into the snow and spent hours sledding and building snowmen (which were then assaulted with baseball bats as per a piñata), before finishing off the days with wicked snowball fights. In the evening hours, we played “Trouble”, “Concentration”, “Aggravation”, and “Spades”. We also built Legos, played with Hot Wheels and Match Boxes, and colored amazing pictures of superheroes.
And then, to top it all off, we watched every King Kong movie ever made while scarfing down voluminous amounts of waffles, bacon, strawberries, blueberries, popcorn, Doritos, Dill Pickle chips, Slim Jims, cheese sticks, cookies, powdered doughnuts, cupcakes, sour gummy worms, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and french fries, all of which was washed down with copious amounts of Danimals Smoothie Yogurts and Dr. Pepper!
Of course, all of this was a major imposition of “Yours Truly’s” plans! You see, even in my retirement, my propensity is to plan, to plan, and to plan. And then to do, to do, and to do! I cannot help it. It is my nature! And thus it was that I had a long list of things I had originally intended to accomplish over the last 48 hours.
But on occasion, the Lord steps in and supersedes my well-laid plans. It seems that He never intended for me to complete my list of “To Do” items over the last two days. Instead, He intended for me to spend this time with my family. And I am quite glad He did!
In the Old Testament Book of Proverbs (chapter 16, verse 9), the Bible tells us that “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.” This is tantamount to saying that the Lord knows infinitely more what we need to experience and accomplish than we ever could.
In this particular case, I’m sure glad He did. I shudder to think what all I would have missed out on otherwise!
As I pen these words, I am mindful of the wisdom proffered by my forebears, who said that if a snowfall ever lay on the ground for three days, it was certain to come again. Right now, heading into the last trimester of this most recent 72 hour period, this aphorism appears to have genuine significance. Already, the prognosticators are calling for more snow in two days.
Given this, I so look forward to yet “Another 48 hours”!”
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/proverbs/16-9.htm.
SEE ALSO:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/48_Hours;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_48_Hrs.
CF.:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOVlwnBqxd6IvFmREmzEUeR3U_sS5IBxpa4I141y2_5l7HoxKkvVugpBo8A6RVwug/photo/AF1QipPx3XJ10IMJXo86TDVutj_fsaoVQ4M5eT3milxw?key=N002U1l3cTI0eUhRcElBNDItSERDZ0U1Vzd2VWpR.