Best Laid Plans

My father was one of the best logisticians known to mankind. Perhaps I exaggerate, but making exquisite plans, schedules, and itineraries was part of his skill set. Although many people exemplify Robert Burns’ adage, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” my family never expected that my father’s plans would go awry.

That is, not until one day in 1975 when our family began the journey home to the United States of America as permanently returned missionaries.

It should have been simple. Departing from Manila, Philippines, my parents planned to fly to Bangkok, Thailand. They would arrive an hour before my sister, Sharon, and I arrived from Singapore. Sharon and I, still teenagers, were packed and ready to leave our school when Sharon remembered something important she had not done.

Her flight was rebooked for the next morning.

I flew alone to Thailand. Plans had gone awry.

When I arrived in Bangkok, my parents were not there to meet me. Their flight had been turned back to Manila after an engine caught fire.

I waited in the airport alone. Plans had gone awry.

My parents arrived the next morning, and we waited for my sister. Her expected flight arrived an hour early without her. She arrived that afternoon.

Plans had gone awry. Nothing my father had planned worked according to the schedule. Life is like that. Carefully laid plans often go awry.

The question is, How do we respond? My sister learned to be prepared; I practiced two days of patience sitting in the airport; and my father kept calm and carried on. He had already placed his plans in God’s hands, and now he prayed for God to guide each one’s journey and safely reunite us as a family according to His plan.

This reminds me of how our heavenly Father, the greatest logistician, made careful plans for creating a perfect world. Yet we ended up separated from Him. His plans went awry. Thankfully, through Jesus, He made an alternate plan for us to be reunited with Him. Every day He patiently rearranges things—overcoming countless obstacles—so that our journey will bring us closer to Him. Someday soon all the delays and rerouting will end, and we will forever rejoice that God’s eternal purpose has prevailed.

Rebecca Turner