Welcome to the September 20th edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
The Story Of My Week
Our wedding anniversary was hidden somewhere in the last week.
As part of our celebration, we went to a restaurant we had not been before to try out the meals we hadn’t sampled before.
The whole experience was made easier by the waiters that served us.
We simply asked them to recommend or explain to us the essential ingredients in a meal choice.
It made me realize how important a waiter can be to an enjoyable visit to a restaurant
It was a good check-on-the-box for our anniversary celebration
Things I Learnt
1-When God Uses Errors for Good: something happened at our home this week that reminded me of how God steps one to address problems you never knew you had.
To understand it best, I’d like to share a story that happened during my undergraduate
I had gone to the hospital feeling unwell (exactly, that’s the only reason we go there)
The doctor had recommended a widal test and sensitivity of the test.
I went to the laboratory and the guy asked for samples I didn’t expect to give. I gave it and went my merry way.
At home, I had a conversation with my dad and he agreed with me that something was amiss.
The next day, I went to the lab and we had a conversation with the boss. He realized that the guy had misunderstood the test.
They went on to do the right test and the wrong test that I didn’t ask for since they had started it anyway.
As it turns out, the test I didn’t ask for indicated that I had a bacteria infection that if not treated now could affect my ability to have kids in the future.
To solve it, all I had to do was take some antibiotics for 5 days.
It had a simple solution because it was caught early.
I realized that God may work through the mistakes of others to solve a problem I didn’t know I had.
And the same thing happened this week
2-No Plan Survives First Contact - I saw the live play of Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke's oft modified words "no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force."
The first day of school's reopening and it was a madhouse getting into school.
The school decided to keep the parents out.
But they forgot - all parents arriving at the same time to the front of the school gate is a recipe for disaster since everyone was still trying to find out how everything was going to work.
The school had instructed that all parents stay outside the school premises as an extra measure against COVID infection.
The problem with this?
A congregation of parents at the school gate was a risk of infection and cars driving by were an added risk factor to the whole thing.
Thank God there was no incident but parents gave the school an earful - in person and via email
Afternoon pickup was a whole world better.
It’s got better.
They got better.
This reminds me of something Dwight D. Eisenhower said "In preparing for battles, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable"
The first contact is not an excuse not to plan.
Even if no plan survives the first contact.
Postscript
May you find comfort knowing that God goes ahead to fight battles that you know nothing about before they become known to you. May your faith affirm that God has given you the strength to win the battles He let you fight with Him (Amen)
Tata,
Tola
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