When Things Go Wrong

The excitement in the motorhome was palpable.  Jason jumped up and down and squealed, "We're going to the zoo today!!"

Lydia looked at him and laughed.  "Yes, Jase, isn't it great?  After waiting all this time, we finally get to go to the zoo!" 

I glanced at the children and smiled while I quickly packed the things we would need.  Water bottles, sunscreen, snack, camera.  Anything else?  Boy, I sure hope I don't forget anything!  Tossing what I thought we would need into a bag and nestling my camera in its place, I continued to wrack my brain.  My thoughts were broken when one of the young people came to me.

"Mom?  I think there's a problem.  This time when I flushed the commode, the foot pedal broke, and now it won't flush at all!" 

I gave a puzzled look, my mind instantly going back to the days of work my husband put into fixing the foot pedal on our motorhome toilet.  No flush, no use!  No toilet?  Not good!  If we get back from the zoo late and then he has to fix the commode again, it would make for a miserable night.

When My Beloved found out, he went to investigate.  He came out of the operating room and looked around at the nervous loved ones waiting for the diagnosis.  "I hate to say it, but today is going to have to be a Fix the Commode Day, because as you all know, we cannot come home to a toiletless home!"

I must admit, the kids handled it very well.  There were no tears, but lots of disappointed sighs.  My Beloved and I conferred for a minute, and then he announced, "Well, guys, we may not be able to go to the zoo, but I need to go get some parts.  Let's go get some lunch somewhere, and we'll get what I need to fix the toilet."

A more sober group climbed in the van. 

What do you do when Things Go Wrong?

The bright sunshine of the San Diego sky insisted that it was going to be a good day anyway, so we got some lunch and decided that the toilet simply needed replaced (those plastic parts of motorhome toilets aren't made for continual wear over a period of several years.)  With a new commode in the van, My Beloved decided that we would still do a few fun things before he needed to go back to the bus to replace it, so we went to the waterfront to walk for a bit.

So instead of going to the great and wonderful San Diego Zoo, we walked along the waterfront.

And as we walked, something wonderful happened.

 

There were street vendors, hawking their wares.  There was the Maritime Museum - a many-masted iron-clad ship tied to the dock, complete with pirates!  There was the monstrous and incredible USS Midway, now a massive floating World War II museum.  

We saw the San Diego Silver Man (who scared My Beloved half to death!,) enjoyed the pier, and even got to watch airplanes land while we were at the waterfront.

What happened that was so wonderful?

We had fun.  A lot of fun.  We walked, talked, joked, laughed, and had a great time.

This dear lady has probably been in this wheelchair for years, but what does she do?  She splashes some bold color on, revs up the engine, and enjoys the ride!

What do you do when things go wrong?  Allow God to change the plans, go with the flow, and don't sweat the small stuff.  When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

It may be a wild ride, but relax and enjoy the journey; it's a great one!