The Best Laid Plans

Proverbs 16:9 was today's scripture passage. "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." So this morning during the large group devotion, we talked about how no matter how hard we try to make this trip meet OUR needs and fit OUR vision, God just doesn't play that way. So if you don't think God has a sense of humor, guess again. During breakfast, the leaders discussed the plan for the day. Head to worksite, assess the job, go to store, etc. Throw in a trip to the airport to pick up Pastor Greg, and there you have it. A great day tied up with a pretty bow. If only it happened that way. We decided to kill two birds with one stone, so we added a trip back to the training center to pick up lunch as well. After a few miles of the almost 30 minute trip, the bus that I was driving with a few team members decided to stall. I was just driving along and the engine totally quit. So we pulled over, restarted it, and off we went. About a minute later it happened again. After a phone call to Karen back at the office, Ronald, our other bus driver, picked us up and took us back to get lunch. So we adjusted the plan. The trip to the store would have to be cut short, and some of the supplies would not be able to make it back because we wouldn't have time to do that AND pick up Greg. As the leader, there's a little stress when you know people are depending on you to get the necessary materials to do the work and you're not able to do that. When we finally go back to the worksite - FOUR HOURS LATER - we were amazed at what we saw. Each member actively engaged in meaningful work - scraping the walls, picking up garbage, preparing an area for gardens, playing with LOTS of kids. My worry was for nothing. The day was PERFECT, even with a few work stoppages dur to some pretty heavy rains. The positive feelings carried over into the nightly games which were all on the beach. The highlight was the beach sculpture that reflected your group name and connected to God. It's funny how the kids don't even notice the other beachgoers checking us out as we laugh, scream, bury our friends in the sand, and basically act like a bunch of crazy children. And that's just the leaders. But the best part of any day comes during the small group devotion time. It's only our second night, but we are witnessing some major spiritual growth and changes in these kids. And Karen told me at dinner that when the mechanic went to check out the van, it started right up and he was able to drive it all the way back without any problems.