When Things Don't Go According to Plan

Tonight my Mom, Alayna and I headed off to Hackman's bookstore to see Kate Gosselin at a book signing for her new book. If you don't know who Kate Gosselin is...does the title "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" ring a bell? This is a really popular TV show on The Learning Channel (TLC). It is about a family with twin girls and sextuplets. Needless to say, they have a pretty crazy life! What started off as a 1 hour documentary about their life has turned into a really popular TV series. I think it is so popular because it is so real life. You see a typical, crazy day in the life of the Gosselins, and I think people like to see that other families lead crazy and stressful lives as well! Obviously, with two 8 year olds, and six 4 year olds, there are not too many calm moments throughout their day.

Anyway, I have begun to really enjoy watching that show because I like seeing how a big family's life works! :) Kate is a VERY organized woman, and I think that attracts me to that show as well because really...how organized can you be with 8 kids? Well, she definitely tries her best! So, tonight I was really looking forward to seeing Kate in person. I was even going to be happy with just a glimpse. As we were heading to the bookstore, I decided to text one of my friends who I knew was going to be there. When I asked her if she had seen her yet, she was like...There are over 1500 people here and they are not letting anyone else in to see her!! My initial reaction was shock at the thought of over 1500 people, then my shock turned to disappointment. I had been looking forward to this experience. Then my thoughts turned to Kate. Can you imagine signing that many books in the space of a couple of hours?!! Poor woman! We were nearly there, so we decided we were going to just shop at the Walmart nearby and perhaps see a glimpse of the crowd so I could get a picture :) However, the road leading to the bookstore was literally bumper to bumper traffic, horns blaring, lights flashing, soooo we decided it was not worth the aggravation! Many of those people were probably heading to see Kate, and wow, would they be disappointed to find out that no one else was allowed in! So, yes, things didn't go according to plan tonight! Oh, well, life will go on, I am sure :)

I then got to thinking about Jon and Kate's life, and how things didn't go according to plan for them. Kate couldn't get pregnant on her own, so they turned to fertility treatments. They were blessed with twin girls first, and thought their family was complete. However, as the girls got a bit older, they thought they would just try for one more....and well, ended up with 6 more! I am sure they never thought they would ever have that many children all at once, but God had other plans for them. I really enjoyed reading their story, Multiple Blessings, and in the last chapter, Kate entitles it "One Day at a Time."

Here is an excerpt from that chapter:

"Having twins and then sextuplets was never in my childhood dreams; and yet that is the destiny God has chosen for me. Meeting Jon, getting married, and having the girls seemed to fit perfectly with what I had imagined. The "happily-ever-after part" seemed to be lost forever in a sea of six little blips on an ultrasound screen. In time, however, devastation, fear, and anger turned to resignation, acknowledgment, and acceptance. I wanted more than acceptance, though. I knew accepting the fate I had been dealt was just the first step. I wanted to not only survive my calling; I wanted to rise up, grasp it with both hands, and thrive in my calling as Jon's wife and the mother of all eight of our children.

The only way to do that was to pay close attention to the lessons God was teaching me. While I could possibly list a hundred such lessons, I will, in honor of our six life-changing miracles, limit my list to just the following six:

1. God is in control

2. God is gracious and strong

3. God can be trusted

4. God is love

5. God will provide

6. Give God the glory and praise

In light of all this, I thought I would post the most recent "Jon and Kate plus Eight"episode on here for all you who might want to watch it. :) There are 6 parts to the episode, and it is about 40 minutes long.