When Plans Change...

Today was supposed to be my last full day here in the states.   I've been extremely busy this past week making sure everything on the home front is accomplished before I leave.   My schedule was crammed until today when I was supposed to simply pack and finish the final details for my trip.

Everything was perfectly planned out.

Or so I thought.  God apparently has different plans.  Last night, I found out that my flight has been postponed until next week.   My Uncle John and Aunt Lois need to stay here in the States for another week due to an unexpected, tragic death in their extended family.   And so, our departure date is now next Wednesday.

I am a very schedule-oriented person.  Everything is always planned out and I'm always trying to make the most of the time I have.   Ironically, one of reasons I want to go on this trip is so that I can learn to simply be available to serve without my personal schedules or to-do lists.  Now, I am at home another week with absolutely no plans.   At first, this was very frustrating.  I want to be in South Africa this week.

But God has very clearly shown that His plan is for me to be here.  It's hard to accept this, but I need to trust that "His ways are higher than my ways."  This is something I've really been learning a lot of recently.  I've been praying for a servant's heart and flexibility as I minister these next two months.  I did not think He would answer my prayer with this.  The first thing I thought when I heard that the trip was postponed was: "What am I going to do these next 9 days???"  But the thing is, I didn't know exactly what I was going to be doing at Bethesda these next 9 days either except to serve where I was needed.  Maybe that's what God wants me to do here.  Maybe He allowed me to finish up all my responsibilities and projects without knowing that the trip was going to be postponed so that I would be available to serve and minister here wherever I'm needed.  

Just last night, we had a missionary at our church who shared a story of a missions trip he and his wife went on.  His wife had important projects she was supposed to do on the trip, but they fell through and she was given the task of drying wet Bibles.  She learned the lesson of being faithful in the small, seemingly insignificant things of service.   Staying home for a week with no specific plans seems very small and insignificant compared to flying over to Africa and serving orphans.   But that's what God's called me to do this week.  I pray that I will be faithful in whatever opportunities He puts in my path.  

So, I'm still headed to Africa.  But there are a few things that God wants me to learn here first.  I don't know exactly what I'll be doing this next week.  But instead of viewing this delay as a delay, I'm trying to view it as part of my trip.  Because missions doesn't just happen in Africa.  It happens wherever I am.   Missions isn't about a place or specific act of service.  It's about living life for the advancement of the Gospel.