By Margaret, The Rope Editor

Things don’t always pan out the way you plan them. This is probably a good thing for me since I’m not the most inspired of planners, but it can be frustrating, bewildering and downright migraine-inducing when plans unravel.

There are times, however, when what you plan does unravel and the result is magnificent because only God can plan everything in the universe down to a flea’s fart and not miss a detail.

Case and point:

I was on my way to work recently and traffic was pretty heavy. I had woken up later than planned and it was raining, both of which invariably resulted in a horrendous hair day, which naturally resulted in an equally horrendous face day. Basically I was not starting my day off right.

As I was driving I looked down to pick up some coins that had been floating around my floorboard for about three days — because let’s face it, when’s a better time to clean up the car than when you’re approaching an intersection, right? Because of my impeccable timing and the light turning from green to red, I looked up just in time to really get to know the car in front of me.

So here I am, the cause of a fender bender and the “before” shot for every anti-frizz conditioner ad out there. As the accident victim and I pull into parking lot next to the road, I’m thinking, “Please, Lord, don’t let the damage be too huge — I just got my Dave Ramsey emergency fund up and I’m not ready to let it go!”

I was ready to beg for forgiveness from the other driver. I knew she had to be furious. After all, she was lawfully stopping at a red light when I decided that bumper cars should be taken out of the arcade — she has every right to be mad. So as I prepared to grovel for grace the driver got out of her car and … to my shock even now … she smiled at me.

As we examined the peeled paint and scratches that I had caused she was the personification of grace, constantly assuring me that it wasn’t a big deal and making sure that my car was okay. This, of course, only made me feel worse. I mean, why did I have to hit Glenda the Good Witch? Why couldn’t I have rammed The Wicked Witch of the West and given the old bat what she deserved?

Because then I wouldn’t have a life lesson to share with you. See, if I could have chosen who to get in a fender bender with (if I absolutely had to hit someone, that is) I probably would’ve chosen someone I didn’t like or thought deserved to have their day ruined by Uggles McUggleson.

That’s why God’s plans always trump my plans. He took a situation that is normally terrible and made it not only bearable, but actually enjoyable. Because He had me collide with this girl who embodied His grace, I now have a new friend.

We’ve actually decided to become friends regardless of whether we liked each other because everyone we knew was aghast at the fact that we didn’t get a police report done for the incident — something we didn’t do because we automatically felt a strange level of trust for each other. It’s a really good thing we do like each other, though, because being friends out of stubbornness can really wear on the nerves.