Planning gone awry!

I’d really like all of my plans to turn out just the way I planned them. Is that selfish?? Honestly, YES! God really keeps me in check on that one, by reminding me its His plan, not mine. Sometimes though, its easy to get a little disappointed when an idea we’ve worked so hard on doesn’t go the way we’ve planned. A good example for me recently is our Pastoral Counseling program, which we started as a response to victims of the earthquake who are still so affected by trauma. In our plans, we imagined people would be breaking down our door to receive the free pastoral counseling we were offering. Big surprise, that is not the reality. 1 month we received 4 visitors when we had averaged 125. Now that is a little off! So we looked at other solutions to reach the people who weren't coming to us. Now our pastor is going into camp cities and seeking to talk with the people living there. But again, I am disappointed in my plan. I thought, a little naively that people receiving pastoral care, and spiritual counseling would be touched by God's spirit, transformed and be able to leave the camp situation which is making them so miserable. However, that is also not the case. In hearing so many stories from our pastor, I realize our plan was faulty big time. We can't just address the emotional and spiritual needs of the person without addressing their physical needs, such as food, water, and a way to make a living. Our approach needed to be holistic. Even in my disappointment at the whole misconception of our plan to help people, I can smile at the lesson learned and know I won't make the same mistake again. I thank God for keeping me humble.