Our Plan vs God's Plan....God Wins

Today was one of those days where we had a plan and God had a different plan. We’ve been anticipating this day all week because we’ve been building relationships with kids all over the community with the hope of culminating our efforts in this one day. In case you’re just getting into the blog or need your memory refreshed, we had planned a big kids party today where we were going to play games, have lots of fun, and in several creative ways teach them about God. We had prepared 10 different stations where we had activities, games, and a lesson about God at each station. Then we had planned to feed all the kids lunch and continue the festivities into the afternoon.

We’ll...that was our plan. But it didn’t happen today. We started the morning by bringing the kids in and decoration La Quinta where the party was going to take place. We blew up hundreds of balloons, and got everything ready. We expected 250 kids but 300+ showed up. Which was great! We started having fun, and playing random games just to get all the kids comfortable. But our plans changed when the rain came. We were told when we first arrived in Nicaragua that it is the rainy season here, and that we should expect one day at least with lots of rain. That day was today. In fact, even as I write here at night it is absolutely pouring out (and drew just got pushed into a waterfall of rain).

When it started to rain we brought all the kids into the church and we had some backup plans for in there. But coincidently the power was out today (not uncommon in 3rd world countries), which ruined our indoor plans. After a while the rain died down a little and we tried going back outside and get into our stations, but after a few minutes it started raining even harder. So we went back inside and waited. Then it was time for lunch. We made the food, but we didn’t have enough for the like 400 people that showed up. So we (the Americans) ended up not eating and ended the early afternoon wet, dirty, hungry, and a little disappointed.

We got some needed rest in the afternoon and ended up going to a church service at a different church this evening. During debrief tonight we did have a powerful thought. I challenge the New Life students to begin to ask a simple but important question: “Lord, what are you trying to say to me?” When things don’t go our why we often get frustrated (sometimes even at God himself), and we can dwell on what “might have happened” or what “could have been.” But ultimately God’s will is best, God’s timing is perfect, and God’s goodness never ends. So maybe the best question when things don’t go our way is, “God, what are you trying to teach me?” This question was particularly powerful for us tonight because we only have one day left of the trip, and we need to start seriously thinking about what God is trying to do in our lives; not just today but through this entire trip. I think the students left tonight challenged and ready to make the most of their last day.

Tomorrow will be a long day, and rain or shine we are going to have a great opportunity to connect with God in a powerful way. After church in the morning we are going to Ask The Lord (ATL). That means we are going to leave the schedule open and spend time seriously asking God to lead us in what he wants us to do. It always proves to be a powerful time for students to see just how sovereign God is. Pray for God to work powerfully!