"What God starts, He finishes. Where God guides, He provides. And where God leads, He meets our needs." - Rick Warren
As you saw in my last post and will see in this post, the decision to go on this mission trip has been filled with nothing but coincidences...but then again, God doesn't do coincidences! So what does He do? He meticulously plans...He plans every single moment of our lives...down to the smallest, most minute detail. I saw a quote once by John Piper that said "God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them." Wow...if that doesn't make you pause...or completely blow you away, I don't know what will! To think that God already has our next moment planned out...our next day...week...month...year...our whole life! Sometimes he allows us to see how those pieces fit together and other times we may never know until we get to heaven. And while I am all for surprises, I have to admit I kinda like when I get to see the puzzle come together! And that's exactly what God did...
Once the decision was made to go I couldn't wait to find out where! And by "couldn't wait" I mean I checked the website daily...sometimes multiple times each day...to see if they had listed the 2014 trips. I honestly think I drove Michelle crazy! When they finally did post them, I saw that we had three options: June was Honduras, July was Africa and August was Asia. I also saw the prices. Honduras was almost half the cost of the other two. Part of me secretly hoped Michelle and Rob would choose there. But then I saw the dates of that trip. The exact same week as Diabetes Camp. Now I had a big problem! There was no way I could miss camp...not that I am not replaceable, but I really could not put my coworkers in that position...I couldn't make someone else step into that role after never having done it before. Plus, camp is my baby! So, I did the only thing I could do...I gave it to God. I told Michelle that wherever they chose to go, I was all in. I would make it work if they chose Honduras, which they ended up doing.
But I should have known that God had a plan...
A few weeks later Amy and I went to meet with the director at Camp Y-Noah where we host our camp each year. I had not said one word to Amy about camp falling the same week as the trip. I just couldn't bring myself to tell her. She and I had created this camp and we had run it together, side by side, for the past 6 years. When one of us was stressing the other stepped in...the office joked we were like "one brain" when it came to camp...we finished each other's sentences and often came up with the same solutions to problems without even talking. We had this thing down to a science! So as we sat there at the conference room table discussing camp 2014, I heard the director say "what would you guys think about doing camp a week earlier next year?" Excuse me?! I almost fell out of my chair! Actually I didn't really react at all because I didn't want to impose my agenda here. If this was going to happen, it would because of God's plan and not my manipulation. So we began discussing it and, as it turns out, it benefitted us in multiple ways to move camp. As we left I told Amy about the trip. And all I could do was look up and say "thanks God...I know that was all you."
I will still have to leave camp two days early, but isn't it funny (well actually no, its totally God intended) that I had to leave camp two days early this past summer for my sister's wedding. And I was a nervous wreck turning camp over...yes I do have some minor control issues...but I pride myself on ensuring camp runs smoothly, the kids are safe, and everyone has fun. And lo and behold, camp continued on without me. Did everything go the exact way it would have if I had been there? No...but the kids were safe and everyone had fun. Having to experience that last year has me breathing much easier this year. Knowing that everything will be ok if I have to leave a little early greatly lessens my anxiety. Because honestly I don't think God wants a nervous-wreck heading out on a mission trip to represent Him. I could be wrong, but I think He wants to prepare us a little bit more than that!
And God is preparing me...mostly I think He's focused on my control issues. Because all of this is teaching me that if I just let up a little bit...if I just give God some control...if I stop trying to manipulate situations...then it will all work out way better than I could have ever imagined. Only God can see the big picture...the whole puzzle...so why wouldn't I allow Him the control to make all the pieces fit together. He is our master Creator...and if you don't believe me, just look around!
