• Home
  • About
    • My Favorite Things
  • Speaking
    • Speaking Request Form
  • Podcast
  • Events
  • Shop
    • Freebies
  • Contact
  • Blog

Andrea Fortenberry

When Your Plans Don’t Turn Out

May 3, 2017 By admin

3 May

Lately my mind has been full of things to do for Restore, we’re about two and a half weeks away! Sometimes when I get in this planning mode, I can easily get fixated on details and how I want things to go. I’m a planner through and through and when things start to deviate from my plan, I have a hard time. Can you relate?

Yet God often has plans that are different than ours. How open are we to dropping our own ideas and plans for His?

Today while driving, I remembered how God stepped into one of these times in my life and it made me laugh. I wanted to share it with you:

Six years ago I was on the planning team for my church’s women’s retreat. I also happened to be the speaker, so my mind was very occupied with details. I had also volunteered to coordinate our book table. We thought it would be fun and very professional to have a book table with resources our ladies could purchase. And since books are my thing, I offered to do it.

Three or so weeks ahead of the retreat, I went to Christianbook.com and ordered the books. I selected the cheapest shipping option, USPS, which would take one to two weeks to arrive. I figured the timing would be perfect and I’d be saving money through using regular mail, helping to stretch our meager budget. I prayed that God would make sure the books would arrive on time.

I received notice from the book company that they shipped the order in three separate boxes. The first box arrived a week before retreat on a Saturday. The second box arrived on Tuesday. I felt confident that when I’d check my mail Wednesday, the package would be waiting for me. No luck.

Thursday rolls around and I’m fervently praying that the third box is in the mail because the retreat was Friday. It didn’t come!

I became so upset and worried. I had prayed all week that God would allow the books to arrive on time—He knew I needed them!

In the middle of the night, it occurred to me: go to the post office first thing in the morning and see if it’s there to go out for Friday delivery!

I was at the post office when it opened and was elated when they handed me my box! Except…I found it odd that it weighed less than a pound and was supposed to have 30 books inside.

Puzzled, I took the box to my car and opened it. There were no books.

Instead, there were two pieces of Tupperware—an orange cereal bowl and a green serving tray.

I’m not joking.

I called Christanbook.com and they had no idea what happened, as they don’t sell Tupperware. There was no way they could ship the books to arrive that day.

So my brilliant plan of having books to sell didn’t pan out. I got so caught up in this minor detail and let it turn into a huge disappointment.

But then God spoke to my heart and said, “You’re talking this weekend about seeking me and finding me despite life’s circumstances. Are you going to seek me in this situation?”

How I needed that dose of truth—and the humor!

In the moment, I had allowed my circumstances to block my ability to see God and what He wanted to show me—to trust Him. So as He often does, God put my perspective back on Him. I realized that He had arranged this entire mystery so that I’d learn this valuable lesson: to seek Him when things don’t turn out as planned. To choose His plans instead of my own.

I laugh about it now because truly, it was such a small detail and I allowed myself to get so worked up about it. I love how God sent me some Tupperware, instead of the books I had planned on, because He knew I needed the lesson. And it’s a lesson I still need to be reminded of from time to time.

God has spoken that same question to my heart over and over when my plans don’t turn out: “Are you going to seek me in this?” He shows me that He’s in control of every situation we encounter in this life, that nothing is too big for Him. We can choose to let our circumstances overwhelm us or we can choose to seek Him and go along with His plans. Let’s choose the latter.

Be sure to let me know if He ever sends you some Tupperware too!

I also launched my online shop over the weekend! You can check it out here

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Uncategorized

« Happy Easter!
Expectancy, Not Expectations »

Comments

  1. website hosting companies says

    August 10, 2020 at 2:54 am

    I quite like reading through an article that can make people think.
    Also, thank you for permitting me to comment!

Meet Andrea


Hi! I’m Andrea Fortenberry. I help women find freedom from perfectionism to show up for the life God has for them. Being a wife and mother of two gives me lots of material and teaches me oh so many things!

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Join Andrea

Search this site

Recent Instagram Posts

It’s podcast day! 🎙This episode of The Perfec It’s podcast day! 🎙This episode of The Perfectionist’s Guide to Mothering with @simijohn is 🔥🔥🔥.

Simi points us to our true identity, how to live authentically, and how to prevent burnout. She brings such a good word!!

You don’t want to miss this episode!
What do you wish your people would help you with? What do you wish your people would help you with? 

Dishes? 🍽
Laundry? 🧺
Sweeping or mopping? 🧹
Watching your kids? 👦🏻👧🏻
Spending time with you? ⏱

You have to ask them! I’ve learned this the hard way, wishing people could just read my mind and know what I need.

It’s an unrealistic expectation, one I know I’m not capable of meeting either. 

It’s really freeing to let that expectation go and instead just ask for what I need. It reduces stress and bitterness and leads to more peace and harmony, in my home and in my relationships.

What do you need to ask for help with in this season?
“He is not here, he is risen, just as he said. C “He is not here, he is risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” -Matthew 28:6

He is Risen indeed! ☀️
Some thoughts from this past week that I forgot to Some thoughts from this past week that I forgot to post until today. 😁

Our latest series @cornerstoneonline has been "What's Love Got to Do With It?" Last Sunday, @iamlandonmacdonald gave a great word on loving our enemies. His message inspired this month's Five Things Post. 

Loving our enemies, or even people we know and love with whom we disagree, isn't easy, but it's possible. How do I know? Because Jesus showed us the way.

Romans 5:8 tells us, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." While He hung on the cross, Jesus asked God to forgive the people, because they didn't know what they were doing. What love!

While He walked the earth, He loved those who were often overlooked or considered unworthy. He crossed cultural boundaries and pursued relationships, even with those who disagreed with Him or misunderstood Him.

When we remember Christ's revolutionary love for us and rely on the Holy Spirit, we can love our enemies and people who are difficult to love. Imagine how the world could be transformed if we went out and treated our enemies as Christ loved us!
Every Good Friday I think back to my most memorabl Every Good Friday I think back to my most memorable one, in 1997 when I 
lived in Israel.

My parents let me skip school to go with them to Jerusalem to watch the Good Friday ceremonies. Thousands of people followed the procession along the Via Doloroso, The Way of Sorrows/Stations of the Cross, which are marked throughout the city. 

We visited The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located over the site of Golgotha where Jesus was crucified. I saw people weeping and touching The Stone of the Anointing, the site marking Jesus’ anointing after His death. I too touched the stone and marveled at being where Jesus had once been—where He had been on the day He died. 

What I didn’t realize at that time was that Jesus died for me. I grew up knowing that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins, but I understood it corporately and not personally. 

The time I spent in Israel truly began my walk with God and I came to realize that yes, Jesus died for us all, but He died for me personally. On the day He died, He knew my name, the sins I would commit, the issues I would face and the work He’d need to do in my life. And knowing all of that, He willingly went to the cross. He went because of His love for me—and for you!

While Good Friday is often a hard day to think about, how our loving Savior died the most gruesome death, I’m so grateful for it. I’ve often held my son and thought about how I could never sacrifice him for someone else. I’m so overwhelmed by God’s amazing love, love that sent His Only Son to die so that 
we would be forgiven and free in Him. May we live and walk in that freedom today and every day!

“God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and send his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” – 1 John 4:8-10

#goodfriday
If we're not careful, we can easily lose ourselves If we're not careful, we can easily lose ourselves in being a mom. It can consume us physically, mentally, and emotionally, if we let it. 

I want to remind you today that you're still YOU underneath your title of Mom! It's important for you to care for yourself and to invest in yourself in every season of motherhood. 

Get to know yourself as who you are today: 
▪️What do you like to do? 
▪️What refreshes you? 
▪️What makes you tick? 
▪️What areas of your heart need help and healing? 
▪️What dreams or desires has God put on your heart that deserve investment of your time and/or money?

Three things that have been extremely helpful to me in these areas:

1. Christian Counseling: I have had a monthly appointment for nearly seven years. It has been life changing and I'm so thankful for the healing and freedom that have come from it.
2. Personality Assessments: I've come to understand myself better and appreciate who God made me to be. I've especially enjoyed the StrengthsFinder test, 16 Personalities/Myers-Briggs, and the Enneagram. (Last week's episode of The Perfectionist's Guide to Mothering was all about the Enneagram.)
3. Travel and Conferences: Both of these things fill my cup, I love traveling and I love learning. I've made it a priority to do these things as often as time and our budget allows. I'm so thankful to a very supportive spouse and kids who realize that I come back a better me, which trickles down into being a better wife and mom.

How are you investing in yourself? What tips do you have for other moms that can help them do the same?
Any Enneagram fans out there? 🙋🏻‍♀️ A Any Enneagram fans out there? 🙋🏻‍♀️

Anyone not sure about what the Enneagram is? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Whichever boat you’re in, this episode is for you! 

I had a great conversation with my friend, Amy Wicks @simplywholehearted.
Amy is a faith-based Enneagram Coach, workshop creator and speaker. She is also the voice of the weekly Simply Wholehearted Podcast. 

We talk about what the Enneagram is, how it can be helpful in our lives, and how each type has its own unique struggle with perfectionism. 

I’d love to know, what is your Enneagram number?
You just never know when you’ll want a little so You just never know when you’ll want a little something. 😋

Swipe over to see the treat I’ve been enjoying lately. Just finished the bag tonight, I need to get more the next time I go to the store. You only need a few little pieces. 

What are your favorite sweet treats?

I also love Reese’s peanut butter cups, and Haribo gummy bears and cherries. I try to hide them from my kids, but they’ve discovered my hiding spot. 😆 They don’t enjoy dark chocolate though, so that’s safe no matter where I put it.
Follow on Instagram

Copyright© 2021 Andrea Fortenberry