“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Our plan was to spend a week in Rome, then board a ship on the 1st of June to cruise the Mediterranean for eleven days. We pictured spending our 40th Wedding Anniversary on the 2nd of June to be the most memorable day onboard, seeing new sights, and then ending the day with a romantic sunset dinner on the private balcony of our estate room. It was supposed to be our trip of a lifetime.

But plans change.

I’m three weeks post op on Monday. Instead of cruising the Mediterranean on our anniversary, we will likely take a leisurely drive to the mountains after church and have a nice lunch in Banff or Canmore. Something we’ve done numerous times before. We haven’t finalized the plan yet, it sort of depends on whether a morning in church has tuckered me out too much. It will be my first Sunday back after surgery and I have discovered to my dismay that I get tired quickly after any kind of activity. I attended a prayer meeting the other day with three dear ladies and I came home so exhausted I slept most of the afternoon. I know prayer is hard work but seriously?

So, we might make plans for our anniversary on Sunday but those plans might change too. All we can do is adapt and go with the flow.

My sweet husband and I are used to change; we have learned to either accept it and adapt to it, or be filled with disappointment and regret that our plans didn’t work out as we thought they should. We make a conscious choice of accepting and believing that each U-turn and unexpected course change in life has a God-Centred purpose.

It’s the way we’ve lived our lives for forty years. Proverbs 16:9 has been our life verse and every time a plan we made didn’t work out exactly like we intended, or not at all, we believed God was always in control and He’d steer us in a different and often much better direction.

He’s never let us down.

In every course change or U-turn we’ve experienced over these forty years, we have been able to share remarkable testimony about God’s goodness, provision, and faithfulness towards us.

Now some may say if that is so, why make your own plans at all?

My parents gave me a little wooden plaque with a Hans Christian Andersen quote in Danish painted on it:

Loosely translated: “God gives us peanuts but He doesn’t crack the shells open for us.”

It’s important to keep making plans. Dream big, plan hard and have fun in the process, but never be so immersed or dedicated to any plan that you can’t accept and adapt as necessary if your plan unexpectedly changes. Trust that God is in control and look for His activity around you.

My husband and I are already planning another cruise after my health improves. We have great plans for the future and we will continue to plan with confidence that God will, as always, direct our steps!