When you’ve been married for more than three decades, you’d think you’d have a pretty good handle on big life decisions, like mattress shopping. Jeff and I were so proud of ourselves. We finally made the call to replace our old bed. We’d ordered a mattress set a month ago and refinished a beautiful queen bed we purchased from friends, (trading in our king-size as we continue to downsize and simplify our lives.) We were ready for the big delivery day, excited and prepared.

Or so we thought.

As we sat at lunch, eagerly awaiting the new mattress, Jeff smiled and said, “This is our third new mattress.” (I did the math, just over a decade a piece for nearly 32 years of marriage.)

The truck pulled up. Two polite, strapping young men brought in the mattress and boxspring and placed it on our newly finished bed and asked us to inspect it. I turned the corner, took one look… and gasped.

The bed was taller than my hip. I needed climbing gear… or at least a running start. Friends, a stool was immediately added to my bedtime routine. (I’m not sure if this says more about my age or my physical shape, but there’s one of those things I can work on, and I’m trying.)

Anyway, the point is, this wasn’t what we planned. It definitely wasn’t what we pictured, so we laughed. Jeff took a picture of me sitting on the edge of the bed, with my feet dangling a yard from the floor and sent it to our daughters. We called the store, hoping to exchange for a lower profile boxspring, but more importantly, we decided: let’s keep laughing, so I didn’t cry.

Isn’t that how life works sometimes? We make our plans. We think we’ve thought it all through. Then something arrives (sometimes literally!) and it’s not what we expected. Maybe it’s a little overwhelming, maybe even absurd, and we’re faced with a choice: panic, pout, or praise God anyway and find the humor.

God doesn’t promise everything will go according to our plans. He promises to walk with us through whatever we face, though, sometimes surprises… higher beds, and humble lessons.

And maybe, just maybe, learning to laugh through it all is one of the most spiritual things we can do in a marriage… or on a step stool.