What do you do when things don’t go as expected? What do you do when your  world turns upside down, or maybe it’s just a slight change in plans, but it still throws you off your rhythm? Believe me, we better have an answer for this question, because, honestly, things rarely go as expected. More often than not, things don’t go as expected because we simply do not have that much control over our circumstances. We are always facing disappointment, change of plans, bad news, surprise, the unexpected, even the unknown. And if you don’t have a means for handling this sort of thing, you can be a pretty miserable person.

Here’s what I do. It’s a very simple, singular thing. I think about God. The first thing I do is realize that He’s not surprised by anything — not by Covid, or 9/11/2001, or by your uncle winning the lottery. So what I can assume is that no matter what happens, God’s will is being done (and, by the way, there are a lot of people around the world praying around the clock that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven because He told them to). So that’s a done deal. Then, it’s for me to be alert to finding out what God wants me to do about this. What does He want me to find out in this change of plans. What does He want me to learn? How does He want me to grow?

Admittedly, some things are devastating — like the sudden loss of a loved one — and will take time to come to grips with, but even then, the fact that God knows what He’s doing may take some time to reach your soul, in the process you can still believe it.

My oldest son Christopher was supposed to join me for my spring training weekend this year, but a family emergency pulled him away at the last minute. I was truly disappointed as I was looking forward to some uninterrupted time with him. But this has been for a number of years a solo trip for me, so I was no stranger to that, and easily adjusted to being alone. I did get to invite Vanguard member Mike High who drove over from Tucson to see Saturday’s game and go out to dinner with me.

On the way home, however, I experienced another disappointment. I was planning on having dinner at my favorite diner in Blythe, California, Steaks ’n’ Cakes. It was closed. I really wanted a restaurant hamburger, not a fast food variety, but the only other eateries in Blythe are fast food. I tried Burger King but when I got to the counter a worker had scribbled a sign, “No fries, No onion rings, No ice cream, No shakes.” What do you have? A hamburger? That’s it?

Then I saw a Denny’s around the block. Perfect. They have hamburgers, shakes and fries but it’s a restaurant. Just what I wanted. There was no one at the counter so asked if I could take a seat, and the girl behind the counter said “Well, there’s a table of fourteen in front of you.” I looked around and didn’t see anybody and thought to myself, But there’s just me. Can’t you do two things at once? Apparently not. I decided to take a seat and see what happens.

It wasn’t long before an older waitress stepped out of the kitchen, saw me and asked if I was being helped. “Well, no.” At that, she got a menu, got me a glass of water and proceeded to treat me like a king. She was delightful — a real pro — and we got along famously. And I realized, had Steaks ’n’ Cakes been open, I would not have had this lovely experience.

It’s just a small thing, but you never know what can come out of changed plans.