A bump in the night

Last night I got ready for my early morning Tuesday run. I checked my handy-dandy Weather Channel app on my iPhone to see what I was getting myself into. 42 degrees with a 30% chance of rain, sounded like fun. No seriously, most of the time I love running in the rain. Not all the time, mind you. I think I just like being able to tell people ..."Yeah I ran this morning. 5 miles in the pouring rain. It's no big deal." I know, I know...a little horn tootage going on. Toot, toot!

I got my t-shirt,socks and tights (Superman would be proud) out of the drawer. Had to remember where I put my running jacket. I knew it had just been washed, maybe it was in the dryer..No. Where, where, oh.. it was in the same drawer as my other clothes. I had to make sure that my head lamp was still working, the battery is going dead. Found my reflective thingy, so I wont get hit by some crazy driver. What shoes should I wear? I know they'll get soaked. Its alright they will dry. I go with my newest pair (which by the way needs replaced). Lay all this stuff by the bed so when the alarm goes off, I can grab it and head downstairs.

The alarm went off at 4:55. I turned it off, laid there for about a minute, and then...a noise. My wife immediately awoke..."Did you hear that?" I think I did, not sure, it is 4:55 in the morning. Then it happened again. A noise or a bump in the night. I sprang from the bed and stood in the hall. Was it coming from the kids rooms? Was it the dog? As I stood there in the darkness and silence, I knew there would be no running this morning. The sound never repeated. I checked the kids rooms. They were fine. I checked on the dog. Grizz was fine.

I asked my wife, "Hey, do you want me to come back to bed?" I knew what the answer would be. I gladly got back under the covers. The unexplained noise is not so spooky with someone by your side.

The planning the night before...all for naught. Checking the weather. No need. Finding the clothes, choosing shoes, checking the batteries. Waste of time. Setting the alarm. Useless. But, I did enjoy the extra hour and 25 minutes of sleep. It was nice being wanted. "Thank you for staying with me, I love you" was the response I got at 6:20am, when the alarm went off again. Really, I think I liked the way the morning played out more so than running in the rain and darkness, by myself. Anyway I can get my run in this evening.

Many times I plan the way my life is going to go. I have a picture in my mind of how everything is going to work out. I take an inventory of all my pluses and minuses. Just like in the movie, Princess Bride. "What are our liabilities?" "There is but one working castle gate, and it is guarded by 60 men." "And our assets?" "Your brains, Fezzik's strength, my steel." It's never enough, so I play it safe and freak out if something changes.

What throws me, is that most of the time God has a different plan. I get ready to do my thing and then there's a noise, a bump in the night.... I am stopped in my tracks. A door opens, another closes. Where I live, what career to follow, who to marry, how to handle my children...my plans thrown out the window. All that I had put in motion, derailed. No, not derailed, but re-railed. He puts my life on the track that he has decided for me. You know what, my life is better for it. It may seem an absolute hassle at the time, occasionally painful, but hindsight truly is 20/20. It's always beneficial. I love hearing him say, "Well done my faithful servant."

The bumps in the night are not the boogey man, but usually blessings in disguise.