Today is a Sunday.
A day of rest.
Sabbath.
On the field, life can get busy in the blink of an eye. To clarify, by field, I mean life on Earth, because let’s face it, we are all on a mission field in some way, it just depends on what the mission is. Life on the field is busy.
Then there are those precious days that are somehow full of rest. I’ve come to recognize those days by how I feel when I wake up in the morning. They just carry a different air, like time has slowed down for once and with the slowing comes a calm. What I’ve also learned is those days, more often than not, happen without effort or planning on my part.
Today is one of those days.
I’ve experienced several on this squad leading journey, the most memorable being when our flight from Bangkok to Nairobi was delayed so much we were going to miss our connection. The airline put our entire squad up in a hotel, complete with excellent food and bathtubs. An unplanned, unexpected, but highly necessary day of rest. Our squad was coming off of an extremely busy leadership development weekend (LDW) which included team changes. Everyone needed a break. And we got one without planning it.
A theme is showing up here.
As squad leaders, we exist in this strange place of needing to create plans, but almost always changing them. The natural question to ask is why make plans at all if they always change? I know, I’ve been asking myself the same thing.
Today is one of those days because I originally was going to go to one team, but through a series of logistical conveniences and promptings, I am beginning the month of March with a different team. The result was having a few days from transitioning out of vacation into life back with the squad because I needed to wait for the team to come pick me up. Had the original plan happened, I would not have gotten this unexpected day of rest.
I’m starting to realize that when He changes my plans, His new idea is often accompanied with something my soul needs, but I’ve been unaware. Today, from what I’ve gathered, my soul needed time to be, but more importantly, I needed time to pray for many people in my life that I care very deeply for. And so, now I find myself asking the same question. Why even bother planning? He clearly knows best. It’s a lesson I continue to need to be reminded of, but it’s worth it because it’s building an even deeper level of trust in Him. So my conclusion is to plan, but keep that plan held loosely in open hands. That way, when it does change, as is most often the case, I’m ready for it.
