Life plans don’t always take shape and move in directions we imagined.
So many things upend our neatly-laid strategies and schedules.
Visa delay or rejection. Medical emergencies. Evacuations and political uncertainties.
Children struggling in new cultures and places. Needing extra help with education.
Sudden changes of co-workers, coming and going.
It feels like setback. Unwanted adjustments.
Change of plans
When our family had to leave Indonesia and move to Singapore, it was an unexpected change of plans.
And particularly painful for our oldest. She was entering 11th grade. Hardly the ideal time to change schools and countries.
For years I’d prayed for mentors and peers to come alongside and encourage our children along their life journeys.
He answered that year by providing two teachers in Singapore who poured into our high-school-aged daughters.
Place to thrive
Years later, when our oldest was graduating from university, the school in Singapore recruited her to return and teach.
Soon she was teaching in the very city she’d “hated” at first. After that unwanted move.
God took the formerly painful piece of her journey and brought about something beautiful. A place where she thrives and serves. Teaching and mentoring middle-school and high-school students.
Bringing glory to His name.
His plans
Through the years, I’ve watched and learned. In the middle of upheaval and sudden shifts.
What feels like setback or unwanted pain still turns in the loving hands of the Father.
He holds us. Shapes and hollows out new designs. Making something purposed for His glory.
Yes, even in unexpected change, we can trust His plans.
He is with us. And always working for His glory and our good.
What about you?
Have you been through the pain of unexpected change? How did the Lord encourage you along the way?
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8 replies on “Plans”
How I have been blessed to have mentors and godly friends to pray and help during some difficult times (and good times)! Talking with someone who has walked a path ahead of you can be so comforting!
Yes…we need each other. The “one anothers” are vital to our lives in Christ. Thanks for sharing 😊
I love this truth and how it worked out so beautifully in Becca’s life.
Thankful for your encouragement along the way, sister.
And God used Becca to teach and mentor one of my nieces in that Singapore school!! 💜 Becca was such a blessing to Hannah!!
Yes!! 🙌🏼 How special is that?? I love how He works.
I’ve had lots of changes–expected and unexpected–in my life. I find prayer and reading the Bible help as well as verses the Lord brings to mind. Also prayer and encouragement of friends and loved ones. Especially those friends who listen to your frustration without judgement. I think now that I’ve had so many unexpected changes, my first reaction may be anger and frustration but the more I think and pray about it and let it sit with me, the more I’m okay and look to see what God is doing.
Yes, it’s a process. Getting to that point of watching to see how He is at work deepens my faith in His unchanging love. And strengthens my trust that He is still in control…what a relief!