I had a different post planned for today and then I lost my flash drive… 
But let’s start at the beginning…
I am a creature of habit and I like my routine for my personal life, anyway. I recognize that my job as a manager in the Custom Design Studio at Shaw Contract is ALL ABOUT CHANGE which is why I cling to my routine at home. I have had this week planned for months… Up on Sunday morning early to write, church, last afternoon of the craft fair and then holiday week to write, rest, and get some fun things done for my writing… and then I lost my flash drive…
All was looking good… I had all but three chapters left for book four being completed, my sister was moving in with my Mom and me on Monday, and even though the house was a DISASTER it was only temporary because we would clean some the week, I was on vacation to prep for Christmas decorating on Friday after Thanksgiving… and then I lost my flash drive…
Sunday morning at five a.m.
I’m dressed to run to Starbucks to get in two and a half hours in of writing. I was a little behind because yesterday morning when I went to Starbucks to get ahead on the week, my VERY EXPENSIVE computer wouldn’t turn on… it’s okay because I had my little purple laptop just for writing and got another chapter written unexpectedly. I said a prayer on Saturday and kept on moving.
This was just one more instance of an unusually stressful week, but I believe it’s just the devil being grumpy because I’m following God’s plan for my life right now and even though it’s chaotic, it’s God’s purpose for my life.
So, Sunday morning I’m all ready to leave and can’t find my flash drive. I don’t panic, but start looking and by six am I knew… I had lost my flash drive…
I go back to bed around six am and tell myself when Mom gets up at eight, she’ll help me find it and all will be okay… I say a prayer and go to sleep.
Eight am… we look and look and look, still no flash drive…
Tears start to fall, but I tell myself that it’s at church. I must have left it at the craft fair yesterday when I wrote the fourth to last chapter of my novel…
Church at nine a.m.
… still no flash drive…
Tears pour down my checks. I go to Sunday school class and people pray. My mother has told many people it’s missing and I have a large number of people praying for my missing flash drive…
To speed this up, it’s now 11 am on Monday morning… and I still can’t find my flash drive… I’ve cried, been angry at myself for not backing it up regularly even though the last few weeks have been beyond hectic, and worked to ignore all the thoughts that come into my head
… God doesn’t answer YOUR prayers for YOUR needs, only your prayers for others. That’s why you’re still SINGLE writing romance novels…
… You should have backed this up no matter how busy you are…
… God loves you, but your writing isn’t more than just a hobby to waste your time when you’re not working…
… It’s just a dumb flash drive, no one cares, especially God, because He’s got bigger things to deal with…
… The church service this morning was on healing, not finding some insignificant piece of technology…
… The contest you entered, the judges didn’t like your writing so now you’re just wasting your time and money
… On and On and On
I’ve prayed, I’ve begged, and as I write this after spending two hours trying to find out everything that is missing and not backed up… well, I’m still trusting, but between you and me… it’s so hard.
When people in your fifty-year-old plus Sunday school class ask why haven’t you backed everything up on the cloud… well, you feel like an idiot over and over again…
I can’t tell you what will happen. I could tell you what I’m praying will happen…
… I’ll find my lost flash drive
… I’ll meet my future husband and we’ll have a love story that makes Walt Disney jealous…
… My sister moving in will bring us closer to the sister/friend relationship that I’ve always wanted
… We’ll sell Mom’s house, and have enough money for Erin to live within 2 miles of us in a perfect little cottage
… There will be enough money to put wooden floors in our home
… Erin will find her forever job that makes her happy and feel like she has a purpose
… My writing will become a business that supports me
… I’ll be able to write my kids’ sci-fi series, my mystery novel and finish books four, five, and six…
I can’t tell you if any of these prayers will happen. I’ve asked, but it’s up to God and his plan for my life… AND THAT’S NOT EASY TO SAY/WRITE/ACT OUT!
So, where does that leave me on a Monday morning, the first day of my vacation THAT IS NOT GOING according to MY PLAN?
Still without a flash drive, still missing a lot of important documents, but still…
Praying
Trusting
Hoping
Not giving up
… even when it hurts
… when it’s hard
… would be easier to just cry
… when the voice in my head says just quit
I DON’T,
because I know the plans God has for me and they are for my good!
Jeremiah 29: 11-14 The Message 
This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and NOT A DAY BEFORE, I’ll show up and take care of you as I PROMISED and bring you back home. I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING. I HAVE IT ALL PLANNED OUT – PLANS TO TAKE CARE OF YOU, NOT ABANDON YOU, PLANS TO GIVE YOU THE FUTURE YOU HOPE FOR.
When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’LL LISTEN.
When you come looking for me, YOU’LL FIND ME.
YES, WHEN YOU GET SERIOUS ABOUT FINDING ME AND WANT IT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, I’LL MAKE SURE YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED. God’s Decree.
I’LL TURN THINGS AROUND FOR YOU. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you – God’s Decree – bring you home to the place from which I sent you off to exile. YOU CAN COUNT ON IT.
UPDATE: 11.26 FOUND MY FLASHDRIVE IN A BOX OF BUTTONS! GOD IS GOOD ALL OF THE TIME. I’VE BACKED UP EVERYTHING ON A SECOND DRIVE AND GOOGLE DRIVE JUST IN CASE.
Until next time, may God’s grace surround you,
