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Detours.

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized


The girls and I took a little trip to Houston over the weekend.

A 200-mile trip that normally takes me about four hours turned into a grueling marathon of over seven hours .

Yes, seven. AND no, its not because I’m blonde and a woman driver, this time. Mostly.

It was because…. well, I was on the phone, calmly and rationally hashing out some critically important issue with someone who shall remain nameless, and, well… I missed an exit, and my GPS recalculated. No big deal, I thought, because according to Lisa, the GPS, my missed exit only added 4 minutes to my ETA… hardly worth the hassle of taking the next exit and circling back around…

Or so I thought.

As it turns out,

life handed me the perfect opportunity to rethink that choice, as I was sitting dead still on I-45 for … THREE HOURS… with nothing to do but play Words With Friends and think about how I bet we’d be at the hotel by now had we not missed that exit while my children snoozed in the back seat.

Its amazing how all because of that one little detour… one teeny, tiny little inconsequential misstep from the plan…

…it took me three hours to travel 36 miles.

At 1:something am traffic began to crawl. I’ve never been so happy to drive 2.8 miles per hour. We arrived at our hotel at 2am. I used an extra quarter-tank of gas.

It was irritating and exhausting, to be sure, but hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of life.

I’ve created much bigger detours for myself. Like when I skipped out on going to Texas A&M way back in 1991. It had been my lifelong dream to be an Aggie. I got my acceptance letter to pursue a course of study in Biology, and I was good to go.

And then this dumb boy that I was gaga over told me he wanted me to stay in Tyler and go to TJC so we could get married and live happily ever after.

And I did it. And even now feel this huge pang of regret about that flushing my dream down the toilet. Because a week after classes started at TJC, he dumped me for his ex-girlfriend, moved off to Dallas, and A&M didn’t want me anymore because my really great SAT score that had gotten me into A&M in the first place was irrelevant at that point. Lifelong dream, out the window forevermore.

I finished up two years at TJC then went on to ETBU and then my first job at Laird Memorial Hospital in Kilgore, Texas, a job that the ETBU placement office helped me to get.

I met my (now ex) husband at Laird Hospital.

Had I not skipped out on going to A&M, I never would have gone to ETBU. Had I not gone to ETBU, I never would have gotten a job at Laird. Had I not gotten that job at Laird…..

All because of one little detour.

One little missed exit.

I’ll be paying the price for that one the rest of my life.

Its why the Bible is full of warnings about pondering the path of your feet.

Giving thought to your steps.

Because every step matters.

Believe me. A four-minute detour can sometimes stretch into 3 hours, and a foolish decision made on a whim can sometimes affect you and your children for a lifetime.

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Comments

  1. MTaylor says

    October 18, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    But you dont KNOW that that was a bad choice! If we trust God and His will for our lives, the we trust that HE will direct our paths! Even if it doesnt look like where we think we should be going!<br />You have no idea what would have happened if you had gone to A&amp;M. Something that happened there may have caused it to be the worst experience of your life! And, God-forbid, we might have missed

    Reply
  2. Melissa from the Blue House says

    October 18, 2011 at 2:08 pm

    But maybe I would have met you SOONER…. somehow. Before… oh, nevermind. 😉

    Reply
  3. Melissa from the Blue House says

    October 18, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    (And that was kind of my point… I didn&#39;t &quot;trust in the Lord,&quot; I made a decision based on the wrong reasons… <br /><br />And I believe God puts desires in your heart (37:4) that I totally ignored… for the wrong reasons. <br /><br />Just sayin&#39;. Ponder the path of your feet. That&#39;s all.)

    Reply
  4. MTaylor says

    October 18, 2011 at 3:09 pm

    I see your point. Well just make sure you listen to what God tells you from now on! And make sure your feet dont wear flipflops while going down THAT path. <br /><br />Oh, and I see the (37:4), but I dont see a book to go along with it. Maybe if you HAD gone to A&amp;M you would have known to put that. <br />But to be fair, judging from my friends that went to A&amp;M, I&#39;m guessing it wouldnt

    Reply
  5. Melissa from the Blue House says

    October 18, 2011 at 3:11 pm

    Well DUH. ANYONE who has ever read the Bible knows 37:4 refers to PSALMS 37:4. <br /><br />And, please. A&amp;M has nothing to do with it; NONE of the books at A&amp;M say ANYTHING about 37:4. Their books only have pictures. And some of them aren&#39;t even colored in yet!

    Reply
  6. Melissa from the Blue House says

    October 18, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    Flip-flops. Pshaw. You&#39;re the only one wearing the flip-flops around here. Or &#39;thongs,&#39; I should say?

    Reply
  7. MTaylor says

    October 18, 2011 at 3:18 pm

    LOL. Yeah, I think we&#39;re missing a gold-mine by not publishing a coloring book of Psalms! &quot;As seen on TV! Color your hymns! Only $19.95 plus $24.95 shipping! But wait, there&#39;s more! Call now and we&#39;ll DOUBLE your order (just pay additional processing and handling). That&#39;s right! You get not one, but TWO Color your hymns, Aggie Seminary books for only $19.95. But hurry!

    Reply
  8. Melissa from the Blue House says

    October 18, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    Does a blog post about your thongs count as &quot;public?&quot;

    Reply
  9. MTaylor says

    October 18, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    I can&#39;t do this.

    Reply
  10. Jeane` says

    October 18, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    THIS conversational thread was even more interesting (and funny) than the post I was going to comment on. (and I originally thought the post was of interest). Next time, share a conversation AS the blog post. I predict at least 50 more followers. Particularly if you mention &#39;thongs&#39;…

    Reply
  11. MTaylor says

    October 18, 2011 at 4:11 pm

    Great idea Jeane!<br />Maybe we could give out prizes too to encourage more followers! Melissa, do we have any more of those &quot;Color your Hymns&quot; books left our of our limited supply?

    Reply
  12. Melissa from the Blue House says

    October 18, 2011 at 4:26 pm

    GREAT idea Jeane! Or maybe, instead of talking about his thongs, if I posted more shirtless pictures? I&#39;m pretty sure I got most of my followers after I posted this one —&gt; http://fordsbigbluehouse.blogspot.com/2011/04/boy-toy-diaries-and-gods-sense-of-humor.html

    Reply
  13. Jeane` says

    October 18, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    Thank you for the duo affirmation. I almost feel like a dorky third-wheel creeping on this conversation, but I just had to mention that I became a follower BEFORE seeing that particular post you suggested, Melissa. However, even if I HAD seen it before signing off my allegiance to The Big Blue House, I would have assumed that you saw beyond his homely appearance {ahem} and saw the potential in

    Reply
  14. MTaylor says

    October 18, 2011 at 9:56 pm

    Thank you so much for your compassion Jeane.<br />It&#39;s true. We homely guys need love too! And since we go through life facing the challenges of homliness, we know how to love better than anyone! <br />And if you would like to donate to Habitat for Homliness, we have a paypal account set up to help meet their needs. (Cue Sarah Mclachlan singing Arms of the Angels)

    Reply
  15. Melissa from the Blue House says

    October 18, 2011 at 10:01 pm

    Yes, bless his heart. He does have a good personality. At least he does have THAT going for him… poor guy.

    Reply
  16. Betsy says

    October 18, 2011 at 10:30 pm

    can you please block our father from reading this? i can&#39;t take it.

    Reply
  17. Melissa from the Blue House says

    October 18, 2011 at 11:46 pm

    He already knows about the 2am arrival time, and I already got lectured about 1)driving without a man, 2)driving after dark, 3)staying in Pasadena, of all places. He mandated that next time, HE would pay for the hotel to ensure I stayed somewhere &#39;decent.&#39; <br /><br />I&#39;m just glad he didn&#39;t take my car keys away, this time!

    Reply
  18. Unknown says

    October 23, 2011 at 2:04 am

    You make me laugh. <br />LKS

    Reply

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About Me


Hey there... I'm Melissa! Texas girl. Mom to three + one goldendoodle. Believer. Old house fanatic. Creating a happy + healthy home with purpose is my passion. I'm so glad you're here!

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I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 years of paint off of this door down to the wood and start over… but that person has no business starting new projects. 😅 My neighbors must have thought this project would never end. *I* thought this project would never end. 😰 If you’re thinking of doing this yourself? Just don’t, ok? Throw the whole door away and buy a new one. 😂🤣 Just kidding.  Old house weirdos like me… we can’t just do things the easy way. Anyhoo… after some trial and error, @sherwinwilliams Celestial is what I landed on, and I have to say… I like it. Periwinkle-ish blue looks great with the yellow house and will look even better when the azaleas are in bloom. Was it all worth it? That’s not important right now. 🤭 Will I do this all again in two years? The magic eight ball says… without a doubt. 👏🏻 I’ve already picked the next color. #gluttonforpunishment #somefoolsneverlearn #oldhouselove #oldhomelove #makinghome #southernliving #gardenandgun #azaleadistrict #tylertx
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Every year I think, “next year I’ll do better. Next year I’ll have it together.” And then, here we are on the SIXTH Christmas that we’ve been in this house, the sixth Christmas I’ve dragged our chaotic bunch of Christmas mess out of a chaotic garage I still haven’t unpacked from our move six years ago. 
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I’m working on both.
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