Plans

Something just occurred to me this week and it's been rolling around in my mind, trying to remind myself to ponder it, but in all honesty, the pondering part hasn't happened yet, so all this may sound like ramblings on lack of sleep and no breakfast. :)

I don't know which day it was, but there was a little whisper in my ear that reminded me that it's Heavenly Father's Plan. Not Heavenly Father's Fly-By-The-Seat-Of-My-Pants or Heavenly Father's "let's just hope everything works out". It's not like we hide the name of it, but it just hit me in a different way earlier this week. I try to remind myself of the old saying "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" but implementation isn't my strong suit.

Interestingly enough, I'm much happier when I have a plan. There is less stress, less anxiety, less drama and oddly enough, more energy. I like planning. I like knowing that at noon every day I go home and have lunch with my family. On days that I don't go home...my day (and theirs) is just not right for some reason.

The trick is, I think for most people, joining our own plans with Heavenly Father's Plan in a way that completes the plan. I know some people whose plan is to not plan. Just see how it goes. Not do the same thing every day. Be unpredictable and spontaneous. How does that mesh with His plan? I wonder if we have to have our own plans first, so we are in the plan "mindset" or if it is best to just go directly to His plan.

I think it's harder to let go of our own plans if we have them first. When I was getting close to graduation from grad school, I had a few plans. I was trying to decide between two places. Which to choose? Where to go? I continued to pray, then plead, then almost beg for some type of guidance as to which of the two places I had chosen to move. When I was finally humbled enough...God told me that He had a different plan and I ended up in Utah...with a husband?! Totally didn't see that coming.

I think I sometimes get so caught up in my own plans, my own goals (albeit that they are good goals) interfere with Heavenly Father's Plan. I need to make an effort to check my own plans and their congruence with His plan on a more frequent basis.