Shift

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7, NLT

From August through September, my husband and I were assigned nanny duties in the Bay Area. Our daughter and her husband had welcomed their first child, our grandson. They were fortunate to have about five months off work to bond with their little one. However, just a week before they were due to return to their jobs, the nanny they had hired declined the position, leaving them without childcare.

To help them out, we worked out a schedule with our daughter’s mother-in-law, who lives 20 minutes away from them. We lived about two hours away. The plan was for us to cover two days a week, while her mother-in-law would handle the other three days, giving them time to search for a new nanny. The schedule worked well for about two weeks, but then her mother-in-law fell and sprained her ankle.

I was taken aback by how quickly God had shifted my plans. I was already adjusting to our two-day-a-week commitment while juggling writing, taping, and cookie-making all at once. Suddenly, they needed me to step in for the entire week. While I was excited to spend more time with my grandson, I felt annoyed and overwhelmed trying to figure out how to make everything fit into my already full schedule. As the week passed, I found myself surrendering to God. The harder I tried to make things work my way, the more frustrated I became. I realized I was fighting against God’s plans—and that’s a battle I was never going to win.


At first, I didn’t understand that I needed to release everything on my schedule and surrender to His. God was orchestrating a shift in my life, and I needed to be fully present in that moment. Once I let go, an incredible joy lifted my spirit. I stopped trying to control everything, and as a result, I had the most wonderful time with my grandson and husband.

God revealed to me that my presence in their home was part of His plan. I needed to be there—to pray over and anoint our grandson when he went to sleep. It was a vital assignment that I would have missed if I had clung stubbornly to my own agenda.

God has such a sense of humor. As soon as I let go and started enjoying my time, He showed me a place to tape my videos. I had walked past this room every day without realizing it was perfect for what I needed. It was only after I surrendered and aligned myself with His plans that I could see the opportunity He had provided. When I released everything to Him, the doors opened.

Key points:

Surrender to God’s plan.

An unexpected shift is God’s plan

If you lack peace and joy perhaps you have not surrendered to God.

Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11

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