PLANS? WHAT ARE THOSE?

I know we are in a phase that, like me, many of you probably never even dreamed of. I never would have dreamed that I would be out of school for as long as I have been. Today is April 1st, and we have been out of school since March 13th.

But wait…I had huge plans!

On March 24th and 27th, my choirs would have participated in their very first festival and district assessment under my direction. My students began working on their festival repertoire since the beginning of January and have worked extremely hard since then. The majority of my choir students are beginners and have no music background whatsoever. So, for me to say that they were “festival ready” is a BOLD statement and a HUGE accomplishment. When I learned that we would not be returning to school until April 13th, I knew that our festival aspirations weren’t actually going to happen.

Not only did they cancel, but there were no intentions of rescheduling. Immediately, I felt a wave of disappointment for my students because I knew how hard they worked for these performances.

Well, that was one of my plans thrown to the trash.

My second plan was the vacation my husband and I were FINALLY going to be able to take together. My husband has his own glass business, Ben’s Ameriglass here in Slidell, LA, and they are always extremely busy. Therefore, the opportunity for us to get away whenever we want is very rare. It has been 5 years since I’ve last visited Disney World, and when I say, I LOVE DISNEY, it is definitely an understatement. So, one can only imagine how ecstatic I was when my husband told me to go ahead and book a Disney vacation. We planned to leave April 3rd, drive to Florida to visit his parents for a few days, check into the Animal Kingdom Lodge on April 7th, visit Downtown Disney (I’ve yet to have the opportunity to experience that.), go to Magic Kingdom on the 8th, go to Epcot on the 9th, go to Hollywood Studios on the 10th, leave to go back to his parents for a few days, then finally return home. I planned to take off of school for four days so we could miss the Spring Break crowd, so that meant I would have a week of no school after our vacation. A nice time to catch up on rest and relaxation. The best part about this entire Disney vacation is that my husband volunteered to Disney Bound with me. So, I spent months planning our attire and getting every little detail together for every single outfit. Everything was ready! Our reservations were made, our outfits planned, and my excitement was on overdrive.

When we heard that WDW was closed till March 31st, I still had it in my mind that we were going. Call it stubbornness if you must. It wasn’t until the beginning of last week that I even talked to my husband about selecting a possible reschedule date…you know…just in case. Yet, I still had hopes that we were going. Suddenly, Disney announced that parks were closed indefinitely, and our stay at home/social distancing order was extended until April 30th.

So, that was another plan that was thrown to the trash.

We make all these plans, but sometimes what we don’t realize is that we are not in control. By no means, do I believe that this virus was created by God, but I do believe that God already knew this was going to happen. He will take something as bad as this pandemic and use it for good. Look at what is happening in the world around us. People are turning to scripture and prayer for consolation. Families are spending more time together. So many are coming to the realization that our lives don’t have to be as busy as we were making them. Sometimes, we just have to BE STILL. Be still and know that He is God, and He will supply our every need. We can make plans and we will continue to make plans, but we have to realize that He knows THE plan for our lives.

Even though this is a time where so many are living in fear and panic, I trust that my Lord and Savior has my life in the palm of His hands. Because I know this, I do not fear. We can look at the plans we had and find something good that came from them even though they may not have happened. Our festivals may have been cancelled, but I know what I can do that will benefit my students even more next year when preparing for festival. Our Disney vacation has to be rescheduled, but we are rescheduling during my favorite time of the year….CHRISTMAS! Always trust that He has our best interest at heart. He loves us so much!

Until next time….God bless you all, and I love you!!!