By Sandy Kirby Quandt

What is it with me and going on trips? Seems lately, I leave the house relatively healthy. Return with some infirmary.

Fly to Florida…come home with severe tonsillitis.

Drive to Georgia…break my hip on the way.

Go to Colorado…return with pockets of air trapped in my lungs, bronchial/sinus infection, fever, dreadful cough, and the flu. In May? After receiving the flu shot in October? Oy, vey.

As I write this I have a 101.8 fever, which for me with my wacky body, means it is 102.8 for a normal person. And I’m on antibiotics!

Craziness.

Sometimes things just do not seem to go as planned.

Joseph checked up on his brothers one day, and they sold him into slavery.

David took some food to his brothers, and ended up separating Goliath’s head from his shoulders.

Paul went on missionary trips, and ended up shipwrecked, imprisoned, stoned, and left for dead.

Talk about plans going awry.

We land our dream job, only to lose it when the company downsizes.

We marry believing it is for life, only to be separated from our spouse either through death or divorce.

We become pregnant, but the birth does not go full-term.

Or our child has disabilities.

Or they rebel and end up in a jail cell.

Or makes unwise choices that end in death at their own hand or the hand of others.

Or whatever it is we placed our hopes, dreams, security, in, falls through and disappoints.

When Pilot and I were in Estes Park, Colorado in 2012, we noticed the evergreen trees that lined the mountains were brown and dying. Not long after, a devastating fire broke out.

In 2013, the area surrounding Estes Park suffered through floods. The clean-up and re-building is still being dealt with.

In Allenspark, not far from Estes, there is a retreat. Saint Malo. Although the land around the chapel has washed away, the chapel still stands. Why? Because it was built on solid rock.

Jesus tells us to build our lives on him. The Solid Rock. Because all other ground is sinking sand.

Plans changed? Ground shifting beneath our feet? Unexpected events in our lives? What to do? Hold onto the anchor. Build on the Solid Rock. Jesus.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on solid rock. Matthew 7:24-25 (CEV)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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