His Purpose vs. my plans

Isn't funny how we plan things in life? Culturally we just plan, plan, plan. We put so much effort, sweat, tears and worry into plans, but rarely does any "plan" actually end up going the way we thought or think it should. If my original "plan" had worked out in my life, I would be somewhere in Peru, living in a mission working with children after having attended and graduated from Baylor University in Texas. I'm not living in Peru and I've only been in Texas for about a week, hardly enough time for a graduate degree. But here I am comfy in my jams, typing, with a sleeping baby in the other room, a puppy at my side and a husband in a class pushing towards his plan of becoming a licensed teacher.

"Teacher? Most teachers are being let go....he wants to be a teacher?"Apparently to some people this isn't a good career change...

We allow fear and "what-ifs" to govern our decisions and plans. We tirelessly weigh pros and cons over and over. Then we decide on something, hold tightly to our plan and then freak out when they {not all that surprisingly} don't go our way.

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but its the Lord's purpose that prevails"

Don't overlook that "many" word...'cause isn't it true that once something in our plan doesn't work out we tend to re-write the whole thing? We're a little fickle and wishy washy! We have a ton of plans, and yes planning is good, but I'm reminded today that when I'm planning it should be for the Lord's purpose to prevail and I should be ready for it not to go my way. Why am I not used to this already?! Plans shouldn't be solely based on how much money a job is going to make, how many children {or dogs in my case lately :)} I think I should have, how much money it will take to have "made it" in life, or where I think I should live, etc. But I want to plan in the purpose the Lord has for my life. Its pretty obvious in this passage that my "5-year Plan" isn't going to work out exactly as I plan, so I may as well ask for God's purpose instead, relax and go along for the ride bumps and all.

"I'm not getting married for a long long time" Nope, been married almost 4 years!

"We're getting one puppy" Nope, we have two now!!!

"We're going to wait 5 years to have babies" Nope, we had our first 2 1/2 years after getting married

"I'm going to be a child psychologist" Nope, pre-school teacher!

"We're going to rent for a long time" Nope, we bought a house.

The list goes on and I'm so glad its the latter that happens and not my plan. Look what I would be missing out on and look at the amazing hand of God in my life. More often than not, what's actaully happened is so much better than my original plan. The God of the universe loves me...He's been revealed through these "changes of plan" and I'm loving being in the palm of His hand with a purpose greater than my own orchestrating my life.