We Can't Do It Without His Help

Ahhh Valentines Day. After 32 years of marriage, I needed a new idea and I thought I had an awesome one. I planned ahead. I made a steak dinner and a cheesecake, his favorite. We had the house to ourselves for the evening. After dinner I told him I was going to put some laundry away and would be right back. I rushed upstairs and it all went downhill from there...
My husband's family has been going on vacation to NC since before he was born. Every year we all stay together in a beautiful house on the ocean and while we are there one of Mike's favorite things to do is body surf in the waves. Now I love swimming, but the ocean in March in NC is a little too "freezing so much it hurts" for me. So, I sit with my sweatshirt on, wrapped in a blanket and watch. This past summer Mike found the perfect solution at a resale store. A full body dry suit. This would keep me warm and dry in the cold waves. He was ecstatic. I had never tried it on and finally got around to getting it back out. I thought it would be sooo perfect to come downstairs wearing it and surprise him. You know, like some futuristic, hot superhero. Often what we picture in our minds and the reality of what something actually looks like are completely different. I was hot. A hot mess. I had managed to get the legs partially on but from there I was stuck. Literally. I couldn't pull the sleeves up any higher than my waist and I couldn't pull it back off. I couldn't even walk. That thing was like a leach on a hippo. It wouldn't budge, not even an inch. Finally, all I could do was call for Mike. I'm sure this was not at all what he was expecting. Just short of cutting the thing off, a half hour later I was exhausted but free and as Mike held me, we had a good laugh. So much for my great Valentine's idea. 
Our plans are not always God's plans. We think we have some great idea and go forward with it, never asking God for help or guidance. When we eventually get ourselves into a hot mess, that's when we decide to call out to God for help. Something we should have done to begin with. I should have asked Mike for help right from the start but I was determined I could do this on my own. I pulled and I shoved and I jumped and squirmed and finally just stood there defeated. We are the same way with God. We think we can do it on our own without His help, but we can't. We try to make it work. We pull and shove and squirm but our great plans, that were never God's plans, go terribly wrong and we are defeated. I am so thankful that my God is always there, just waiting for me to call out to Him for help. When I finally do, He comes. He never turns his back on me or tells me it's too late. He pulls me out of the mess I made, He holds me close and He restores my exhausted heart with laughter. Next time we are about to go ahead with a plan we think is sooo perfect, let's remember that leach on that hippo and turn to God first, asking for His help every inch of the way. 😉