We Make Plans--God Laughs.

A beautiful Jewish woman once said: "We make plans--God laughs."

 Take my bookshelves for example.

They reminded me this week that "many are the plans of a [wo]man's heart, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails" (Proverbs 19:21).

I'm no longer teaching full-time, and am in the process of moving all my materials, books and supplies into my tiny home office. My husband built beautiful shelves on my office wall. Still not room enough

Some inexpensive, short book cases caught my eye at Wal-mart, and I thought it was rather clever of me to buy two of them for stacking on top of one another.

God didn't give me an engineer's or carpenter's mind. I have two things working against me in the logic department: I'm blond and a soprano. (No offense to the smarter blonds and sopranos out there.) It never occurred to me that the little shelves wouldn't sustain the weight of another little shelf on top, burdened with more books than the library at Alexandria.

I was rather pleased with myself as I placed the last book on the top shelves when CRASH, the shelf on the bottom completely collapsed.

My plans seemed reasonable at the time. Now, they were clearly bad ones. I wonder--did God laugh? If I were Him, I would have.

It's been like this for me as I prepare for ACFW Conference. I had X number of days to get X number of pages polished and other preparations done. I was on a roll. I was going to be ready like no one else. I was a writing machine. (Click here to read how obsessed I am about conference: "Excited as a Puppy with Two Tails.")

Then, a friend of mine got sick. And that's when I had to accept an important truth: people are more important than my writing plans and goals and dreams.

I thought I had turned my goals and dreams over to the Lord long ago. But these interruptions taught me a valuable lesson. They taught me that God's plans and purposes will indeed prevail, whether I think so or not. He has a plan for my work in progress, and He knows the exact time when it is to be published or whether or not it will be. Because this journey isn't about me and my dreams. It's about the message He wants to give through me.

There have been other kinks in my journey toward ACFW Conference and my dream of meeting the agent and editor who will love my platform and my ministry. But I think God is sending these little detours to test my ability to roll with His plans. I won't be able to give anyone credit but Him, should any success be mine.

It's all bigger than me, anyway. But it's not bigger than God. He is bigger than any expectation I may have. And He can handle it. If I truly believe He's in control, and do my part to be a workman that needeth not be ashamed, then there will be peace.

And I, with God, will laugh.