My plans or His plans?

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

I know, I know, many of you are thinking, "I've known that verse since I was a child!" Well, I haven't known it long, and don't know if I've ever thought too much about it, even though it's one we hear quoted often. It came to me in a powerful way today. I had actually planned to write about my foray into the book, Radical, (for those of you who haven't read it...read it, it will change your thought life for sure, but hopefully your actions as well), but apparently God had different plans for this blog!

Anywhooo, I have had one of those days! I should have known something was up last night when I couldn't sleep and thought, "I should get up and work on my blog entry", then thought, "I'll do it tomorrow morning when everyone is out of the house". Well, that plan went right out the window. I have been on the RUN all day. Here's a little background.

I have been mentoring a young girl for almost a year now. I had never planned to mentor a teenager, (by God's grace we have gotten through the teen years with 2 daughters; and one son to go...I was almost home-free!) but need I say it, God had different plans. It's been an incredible blessing to me, my family and hopefully to this young lady. Anyway, she has really struggled this year; first with drugs and alcohol, then academically (it's hard to pass your classes when you are on drugs, in jail or in the hospital). Praise God, she has passed drug tests that have been administered to her in the last couple of months, but academically is still struggling some. Long story short, the feeling was that she would be better served by earning her High School Diploma through Adult High School. Well, today was the last day to take the placement test for that, but in order to take the placement test, she had to be discharged from public school (run, run), get her dad's signature and the school superintendent's signature (run, run) then show up at 5 to take a test from 6-8pm (run, run). Well, we did what we had to do, but she did not pass the test! She is so disappointed and embarrassed and full of "should haves and could haves". I didn't know what to say to her! Was all the running and maneuvering for nothing? Did we make a mistake? I told her that I wasn't sure why things turned out the way that they did, but God had a plan for her. He would use the situation ultimately for her good - she may not be able to see it now, but I was sure of it. She wasn't a failure or a loser (this was part of her self-recrimination). Sometimes, many times, things don't turn out the way we planned, but God is still in control and if she would embrace that, learn from it and move on, He would do great things in her life! He has a plan...an awesome plan!

As I got ready to write this blog, Jeremiah 29:11 came to me! I knew vaguely what it said, but not fully. How can I encourage others in God's Word, if I don't know it? This has shown me (again) how important scripture memorization is. If we hide God's word in our hearts, He will give it to us when we need it most. Our plans don't always work out, but God's plan always does!

Here's my new plan...learn and memorize His word, after all, that's part of His plan for me!