The Plan

I've always kinda had a plan. When I was in middle school, I knew I was going to college. I had no idea what I might study, but I knew I needed to go. In college, I knew I was going to grad school, again initially with no clue what I would study. When I started grad school, I knew I wanted to work in an ER. When I was working at a local ER, I knew God was calling me to Haiti for a year. During that year in Haiti, God showed me who and when to marry. Awesome! :)


All the years leading up to this one, this first year of being married to my awesome hubby, I never had plans for beyond getting married. There was nothing I had felt compelled to do (except for going to Italy and the Geneva Lindy Exchange, but that plan's in the works :), like all those other years. In one sense, it's weird for the first time in my life to not have a plan. In another sense, it's thrilling and exciting to look back and see how God gave clear direction and work to do during those years and how He's waiting to give us our next directions together as a couple. 


Which brings me to the question we've been pondering... What's the plan now? What were we put on this earth to do? We want to make Jesus smile. We want His Kingdom to be first, for us to be fruitful branches and encourage others to know Him, love Him, and serve Him, He who is Love and loved us while we were sinners separated from Him. We want to start a family. We want to encourage missionaries. We want to look like our Father. (we'd also like a beach house where said missionaries can come relax :)


But what does that look like for us on a daily basis? I feel like sometimes it was clearer on the "mission field," when I lived in Haiti. There, I loved on orphans, helped deliver food and clothes to widows and orphans, had a Bible study with orphan girls, and offered medical care to the destitute and refugees. It meant lost sleep praying for a baby not to die, lost weight with typhoid and malaria, and a lost heart when saying goodbye to Poor House friends. 


In America, I'm not even sure I know any orphans. The only widows I know are sweet older ladies from church. 


While we love international missions and look forward to investing in friends and other Kingdom workers overseas, we both feel very strongly that we are stationed States-side right now. And this is a great "mission field" (I heard the Great Comission explained once as not "go and make disciples" but rather "in your goings, make disciples"-- wherever you are, you can make disciples!). So, what does life look like for us here?


We're still figuring out what the Lord's plan for us is as a couple. My new job became available right after I started praying that God would give me a job with opportunities to share His love. Within a week, I was offered my new job in an ER, and with it came an opportunity to encourage a suicidal pastor patient and speak Creole to 3 patients, 2 of whom are from the town I lived in while in Haiti (how random and how like God :). 


We have some crazy college student neighbors... maybe they're part of the plan. Maybe my young patient who accidentally killed someone is part of plan. Maybe our involvement with financial coaching at our church (more to come in another post-- we're super excited) is part of the plan. Maybe sharing a Blessing Bag (thanks, Kelly!) with the homeless man I pass every day on my way to work is part of the plan.


Part of the Plan to share His love and offer of abundant and eternal life with the world. 


Not such a bad plan to have. :)