When God Trumps Your Plans

The preparations of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
~ Proverbs 16:3

My husband and I had plans. He would have his East Coast manager contact his Southwest manager and let him know he needed Vic back on his team. After all, the man had told my husband this Southwest visit would only last 6-8 months, and then he would have him come back to his team.

Two weeks ago, the manager here offered my husband a very tempting position. It came with letters after his name. It put him fourth in command on the job. It would make him a supervisor of supervisors. We're talking huge promotion.

Because we want the best for our children and my husband wanted to be on the same coast as us, he turned it down. Fully expecting his East Coast manager to come through. Fully expecting God to move us back to the East Coast as a family unit.

Not expecting God to separate our family for a season.

And Vic felt sick after telling his Southwest manager "no."

BUT GOD...

He had other answers.

We've dealt with worldly issues surfacing in our children's hearts after spending the past few years in the public school system. Although they've had excellent teachers and mostly joyous experiences, peer pressure and talk of unmentionable topics that ten-year-old children should not be discussing has caused us, their parents, to reevaluate the situation we've put them into. So, Vic and I decided it's time to take some drastic measures and move our children and me back to our hometown. Where they can attend a private Christian academy. Where they can grow spiritually, have healthy emotions, and get a great education. Where they can rest. Where they can heal.

God must like that half of our plan, because we are well on our way home.

BUT He wanted Vic to have that promotion. Because the answer from the manager's tongue is that Vic will stay on this job. In the Southwest. At least until the end of this year.

Which means he's too far from home to commute most weekends, as we had planned.

Sometimes in life, God will trump your plans. How do you handle that? With disappointment? (Some.) By fighting it? (Will you win against God?) By praying until you're blue in the face? (Some have changed God's heart before...haven't they?)

Here is how we're dealing with the hand we've been dealt:

1. Talk it out. I've watched my husband's countenance drop over the past few days as he's realized the impact this has on his life. We don't like being apart from one another. We love sleeping in the same bed. He loves getting his head scratched as we unwind and watch a movie every night. I love getting my feet rubbed. Instead of wallowing in our disappointment, we're talking it out.

2. Find the positive. Look for God's plan. Rather than focus on the negative (we won't be under the same roof; we're across the country from one another; visits will be fewer than we'd hoped), we've looked at the possibilities of what God can do. We know it's best for the children to be in a safe educational environment with friends who have similar values. We can see God's hand in both our careers. We can see opportunities for ministry and spiritual growth in moving the kids and me home.

3. Recognize God's hand in the situation. I told God four years ago that if I was ever going to move back home, He'd have to do a major work in my heart and give me that desire. I fell in love with Southern living, and I would much prefer to go to North or South Carolina, Kentucky, or Tennessee. Just two months ago, I was planning to take the kids to SC if I had to settle somewhere. Today, I deeply desire to return to our roots. Must be God wants me there. Otherwise, I'd be heading to SC or staying with Vic.

4. Trust God's plan. I've seen God work in amazing ways time after time in our lives. I've learned that when we do as He requires, we prosper in every area of our lives.

5. Look forward to looking back. I can't wait to look back in five years and remember this moment. This new season. This promotion. This journey. This point in time when God moved in a direction we didn't understand but were faithful to follow regardless.

When we said "yes" and "amen" to the answer of God's tongue.