Tag: planning

When life becomes the unexpected…

Planning. By nature that is what I do. In fact, I have a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C and probably a Plan D for everything I’m doing. Innately, I have always been a planner. 

Truthfully, I have probably fallen victim to over planning for most of my life. In 2017, I was at a point in my life where I had accomplished most of my goals to date, but even with that success, I was left feeling miserable. In that moment, I realized I wouldn’t find true joy until I let God have control of my plans. I quickly realized releasing control would be one of the greatest challenges I face in my life. 

In that season I adopted Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will succeed,” as my life verse.

I knew I needed a mindset shift. As I leaned into this new way of thinking, I went from making my plans fit into what I thought was God’s purpose for my life, to having Gods purpose for my life shape my plan. 

Over the last few years, Paige and I have used this verse as the guiding compass as we navigate through life. With this mindset as our modus operandi it has been easy to see God’s goodness and favor all over our life, marriage, family, occupations, and calling. To be honest, so far God’s plan hasn’t been far off from what our plans would have been on our own.

Until recently.

We know that God is not a god of chaos, but a God of order. 

“For God is not a God of confusion and disorder but of peace and order..” -1 Corinthians 14:33 (AMP)

God designed us to be organized, systematic, and planners. We know from scripture that God himself enjoys planning. 

But this is where the challenge to our faith comes in. How do we move forward when God’s plan doesn’t look like what we had expected it to? Since Paige was admitted to the hospital and Harrison passed, this has been my daily struggle. 

It’s easy to trust and believe in God’s plan for our lives when things are going well and seem to be going according to our plan; it becomes hard to trust God’s plan when the reality we’re in is not the reality we would have chosen for ourselves. 

Each day Paige and I grapple with the fact that we are living in a reality we didn’t even know was possible. Some mornings it feels like we did something wrong, made a mistake, or just misheard God altogether.

We have to remind ourselves those thoughts are simply the lies of the enemy, and we must trust in Gods word. It was Jesus who said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1)

Even though we have sorrow, because where we are isn’t where we thought we would be; we choose to stay committed to what God has called us to. We choose to find purpose in our pain. We choose each morning to have joy.  

Regardless of where you find yourself, if your current circumstance feels as if it doesn’t line up and fit in to what you had planned, do not forget that God is still in your midst. God is orchestrating his plans to redeem the hurt, the pain, the loss, the devastation. Have faith that regardless of where you are, God is still redeeming stories.

“So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. -John 16:22 (NIV)

5 Steps for a Successful Decade

We have officially entered the greatest time of the year! (Well maybe the second best after football season, but that is neither here nor there.) For as long as I can remember, the time between Thanksgiving and the end of the year has been the best time of the year. When I was younger, it meant light school work and Christmas presents galore. While I was in college, it meant no responsibilities along with a little extra time to get into mischief. As I have gotten older, this season has taken on a completely different meaning. While I still enjoy the Christmas festivities and extra time with family, it’s become a time to rest, reflect, and prepare for the new year.  

For most of us, even if we do reflect and prepare for the new year, it’s typically done during the dead week between Christmas and New Year’s. Relegating a year’s worth of goals and planning into seven short days after wrapping up the Christmas season is just not smart. In fact, most of us use that time to rest but we don’t plan. (Side note: Resting is good, if you don’t believe me go read the blog from 11.12.19.) This is typically the reason why we feel so rushed going into the new year, and spend the first couple months just getting acclimated. 

The last six years I have worked to utilize the entire season as a time to rest, reflect, and plan. The difference that I have experienced by being more intentional has been significant. There are five typical steps that make up the format, or framework, that I use to feel more prepared going into the New Year.

Step 1: Set Goals. 

It goes without saying that you have to establish goals. Read any “self-help” book, regardless of the topic- finance, leadership, management, sales, etc- they all start here. In order to determine if you are heading in the right direction, you have to establish goals.

Step 2: Focus less on others, more on self. 

Sometimes, for me, this one becomes the most challenging. In today’s social media world, we easily become distracted by what others are doing. We see they made a big sale, bought a new car, bought a new house, got married, or had a baby, and immediately we forget all about the goals we set and accomplished for ourselves. Not only will this eliminate drama, but it will also make you more content.

Step 3: Read More. 

Like your average American, I never truly enjoyed reading. However, after I graduated college I realized that simply having a degree doesn’t give you all the knowledge to excel in your career or to reach higher levels. I began to look around and see that those who are highly successful are reading at least 1-2 books a month. I am not necessarily trying to get Bill Gates level of money, but if he is reading 50+ books a year, there is probably something to it.

Step 4: Invest In yourself.

This should go without saying, but no one is going to invest in you more than you. It’s not the responsibility of your employer, your family, your friends, or anyone else to invest in you. The responsibility falls on you as an individual to look for opportunities to improve; which could mean a whole host of different things. It may be going to a conference,  paying for an online seminar, or taking a class at a community college; whatever that looks like make sure that it aligns with your goals.

Step 5: Pursue Christ to develop your calling.

Above all of the other steps, this is the most important. I will admit that Step 5 is the newest addition to my framework, something I’ve only added within the last few years. In the years without this step I made progress, but not nearly as significant of progress as in these last 3 years, when I have been intentional (there’s that word again) about my pursuit of Christ. When you are pursuing Christ and the calling on your life, you begin to walk with more clarity; which causes your goals to realign to where God is leading (thus making it that much easier).

I hope that by taking these five steps you will be able to reach the level you have been striving for in 2020!

Failing to plan is planning to fail.