08/30/2026
Porch Talk ☕️ | The Road I Never Planned
This morning, I’m sitting on the porch with my coffee, enjoying one of those rare little stretches when everything feels peaceful.
The cows are fed. From where I’m sitting, I can see the calves we’re weaning eating their breakfast. If I look off to the side, the horses are munching on their hay. Hubby just let the chickens out to free range, and those baby chicks we got not so long ago suddenly don’t look much like babies anymore.
It’s serene and quiet.
At least for a few minutes. 😂
My phone screensaver changes Bible verses, and this morning this one was waiting for me:
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
Proverbs 16:9
And sitting here, I couldn’t help but think about that.
Twenty years ago, I was sitting on a very different porch. I was on the bayou in South Louisiana, probably doing the exact same thing I’m doing this morning—drinking coffee and thinking about life.
If you had sat down beside me back then and told me where the next twenty years would take me, I’m pretty sure I would have laughed and said, There is absolutely no way.
There have been so many twists and turns. Plans that worked. Plans that didn't. Doors I thought I was supposed to walk through and others I never expected to open.
And somehow, all those steps led here.
To this porch.
To calves eating breakfast, horses munching hay, chickens wandering around the yard and a cup of coffee in my hand.
Life looks very different from the one I probably would have planned for myself all those years ago.
And I'm grateful for that.
Because this morning, I don't find myself wishing I had planned the road better.
I'm just grateful the Lord established my steps and led me right here.
Maybe that's the little reminder I needed today: we can make all the plans we want—and I certainly still do—but we don't have to have the whole road figured out.
Sometimes we just have to trust the next step. 💞
Live Simply, Choose Well.
- Kem, The Rustic Mare
