Man proposes. God disposes. 17 Days of Distancing with D. V. Stone

This is a picture from one of our camping trips last year. It had rained all day but just before the sun went down it peeked through the trees.
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Man proposes. God disposes.
Have you ever heard that saying? It is attributed to a translation of the Latin phrase Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit from  of The Imitation of Christ,  a 15th-century book by Thomas à Kempis.

What does all this have to do with Welcome to the Campfire? Earlier this year my husband and I sat down and began to plan our camping trips for 2020. The first one was to be this weekend. Reservation cancelled. That said, I'm driveway camping. My mom is staying with us since she broke her arm in March. She's high risk, I'm high risk. Husband still needs to go to work. So we are social distancing at home. She's upstairs in the house and I'm for the most part downstairs in the camper. Good practice for when we retire.

Man proposes. God disposes.
The other big thing we were going to celebrate this weekend was the release of Rock House Grill. My sister and her significant other were joining us on Sunday night at the campground to pop the cork on a bottle of bubbly. The celebration will have to wait, as will a book signing at Brook Hollow Winery with a host of other authors. That has been postponed until maybe August. 

Man proposes. God disposes.
Pete was supposed to retire in July this year. Since I'm laid off from my day job for a indeterminate time, he may have to work longer. We need to cover my loss of steady income. It's okay. We can be flexible.

Man proposes. God disposes.
Back to camping. As of today were still holding on to our hope for Indiana and Kentucky. We'll have to see what happens. Then we'd planned his retirement trip in the fall. Niagara, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut. A tour of New England. Who knows. Will things get better by then? I'm counting on it. Like the Ant and the Rubber Tree Plant, I have high hopes.

That's the thing about this whole ordeal. It tough. One of my co-workers had a baby and they are in isolation. Can't visit with the Grandparents. Breaks their heart. Another friend is getting married. She keeps optimistic about it. "Leave it to me to get married during a pandemic." 

You to may have had plans. Weddings, graduations, birthdays. Hang in there. There will be celebrations. We'll get through it. Together with our family and friends, no matter what happens, life will go on for most of us. There have been terrible losses. We will mourn those, but in that mourning we will also celebrate their life. 

Today is Saturday the fourth of April, 2020. I had plans. You had plans. Plans change and so do we. One of my favorite shows was the Big Bang Theory. Say what you want, but there were some real good nuggets in the show. One scene that stands out to me is from the last episode is where Penny and Sheldon talk about change...
Penny: "So I guess the only thing that actually stays the same is that things are always changing."
Sheldon: "Interesting. So you’re saying the inevitability of change might be a universal constant."

​I'm blessed. My husband has a job. My family so far is doing well. I hope  and pray for the same with you and yours. 

I'm going to leave you with a special Psalm from Ecclesiastes. Some of you may be familiar with it as a Byrds song. Read it first then I've provided a link. On a personal note, this was the verse I read when my dear brother-in-law passed away. He was much to young. My sister's whole world changed. She and her two sons needed to adapt and overcome. It was a horrible day many years ago. They are doing okay.
I wonder what's going to happen when this is all over. I hope we as a society are changed for the better. That we do okay too.
Ecclesiastes 3There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
    a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
    a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
    a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
    a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
    a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
    a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ga_M5Zdn4

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