God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise

“God Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise,” is a pearl of wisdom that I often heard my elders say. I never thought much about it until now.

How many times have you made plans, and they didn’t work out? I’m not saying that we shouldn’t make plans. Planning is good, it gives us something to look forward to, and it gives us a sense of control. Controlling the things in our lives makes us feel secure in a world full of uncertainty.

Now when I make plans, I say to myself, God Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise, because I know that I’m not in control. God is in control. There are forces in this world that will work against our plans, but if it is God’s will, it will come to pass. This I know to be true.

I hear my grandmother and mother’s voices when I hear those words. My voice mingles with theirs’ as I repeat the saying. I write sayings like that in my books because I want you to hear your mother’s voice when you read them. That saying and others go back generations and are a part of who we are. We can’t let them fade into oblivion, because to do so, would be letting go of another piece of us.