Who Cries at IHOP?
It’s not a Roussin family vacation until Megan cries at IHOP.
One year, when Megan had just started her business and the kids were young, we took a cheap vacation to Kansas City. Megan found a hotel with an attached waterpark.
We made our way to KC. Everything was fine. The kids were good in the car. We made a first stop at Legoland and eventually made our way back to the hotel.
That’s when we became the Griswolds.
A powerful thunderstorm knocked out the power in the hotel.
The rain was so strong - or the construction of the hotel was so bad - that rain was coming through our window.
Miller cried because he thought the room was going to flood.
There were kids outside of our room running through the dark halls until about midnight.
No power means no AC. In my life, air conditioning is the foundational mark of a successful summer vacation.
Jude woke up in the middle of the night crying. Instead of letting her wake Miller and Megan, I drove up and down I-70 for about an hour. At 2:00 a.m.
The power never restored.
We never touched a waterslide.
We left.
As we were grabbing some much needed coffee and food from a nearby IHOP, I shared my frustration. I complained. I likely piled on.
Megan started crying at the table. She was upset because all she wanted was a nice family vacation.
We tried to salvage what was left of our time. We agreed to book a luxurious room at the world-renowned Hampton Inn back in St. Louis. It had a pool. The kids could swim.
We made our way to St. Louis to check-in. As we arrived we noticed some signage on the door.
“Pool Closed”
I now understood how - in a fit of rage - Clark Griswold held someone hostage so his family could ride a roller coaster.
It was the worst vacation ever.
Similar to the vacation from Hell, my life doesn’t look like I thought it would. It doesn’t look like the life I had envisioned in my delusional pursuit “perfect”. You see, I am an optimist. An idealist. I’ve made all the plans for my life. Most all of them have been interrupted. And some have been obliterated.
When my life gets rearranged it’s uncomfortable. Jude’s diagnosis. Job loss. Business setbacks.
Here are some things I have to remind myself of when my ideal life looks more like a leaky hotel room or tears over pancakes.
God is in control. I may be surprised by changing circumstances, but God isn’t. He’s sovereign. He’s in control. “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” Proverbs 16:9
No pain - in his hands - is wasted. God can use every challenge. Every painful diagnosis. Every bad vacation. He uses those situations to change me. To sanctify me. To make me more dependent on him. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.” Romans 5:3
I don’t need to have it all figured out. “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9
All the rearranged plans are a reminder that He is God and I am not. I’m so thankful the plans I had for my life have been blown up. Because, as I’ve said before, God knows exactly what I need even when I’m convinced of what I want.
God help me be flexible, open, and fully surrendered to your plan - especially when it doesn’t look like what I had in mind.
PS - This trip is why we go to Disney now.