Plans

Plans. We all have them. Even when we didn’t write out that list, somewhere dancing around in our heads, we have some ideas about what we should do. From bucket lists to grocery lists, we are people who make plans.

To test my theory, and get some great laughs, I asked a few moms to ask their kids, “What are your plans for today?” Grouped by family, here’s what the kids said:

A (age 8) – “Oh, I don’t really have plans. I never really have plans.”

O (age 6) – “I haven’t really decided yet.”

E (age 3) – “Going outside and playing a game.”

J (age 9) – “I don’t know, it’s kinda hard. There’s so many things to do.” 

S (age 7) – “Well you and dad are the boss. I never get to do what I want.”

M (age 6) – “Probably playing outside with my brothers and cuddle with the cats. You’ll probably make me help Ruby.”

M (age 5) – “I want to ride my bike again.” 

R (age 4) – “I don’t know. I want a cheese stick.”

R (age 2) – “I unno.”

H (age 6) – “I want to play outside with M and play outside with the dogs, and also do school.”

T (age 4) – “I wanna play with the swings. I also want to slide down the slide.”

A (age 13) – “Do homework, and then chores, recording worship, then Respawn, then youth group.”

C (age 10) – “Finish my school work, chores, play video games, maybe go outside.”

C (age 18) – “Dad and I are going to go buy an abandoned casino and turn it into an endangered bird habitat.”

D (age 15) – “Clean rabbit cage, watch TV and be a couch critter and play with rabbit. Ride bike, maybe to the lake and fish or play in creek. Eat, eat some more, maybe mow lawn and take out garbage.”

As we grow, somewhere along the way, we start to make plans. If we ever needed a reminder to not hold tightly to our plans, we’ve certainly received that the past few months. With a shelter-in-place order in the middle of March, nine items were X’d off my calendar. In April, fifteen. Some events cancelled. Some meetings postponed. I stood in my office and wondered what was going on.

What a reminder that all our plans rest in God’s hands. Perhaps you know someone who ends letters or statements with D.V. or Deo Volente which means God willing. There’s a biblical basis for this. James 4:13-15 says, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town, and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” 

Restrictions are easing up and we can start planning again! Can we learn a lesson from the happenings of the last 2-3 months? Can we change not only how we plan but how we handle a change in plans? The challenge is to remember that only if God wills, we will see our plans happen. When you make statements about the future, always end them with D.V. (even if you don’t say it out loud.) Remind yourself constantly that you and everything you do are in God’s hands.

See you in two weeks, Lord willing.