Oh Captain, My Captain.

"Michigan?!? You better bundle up!"
Typical reaction of my friends and family who have been born and raised in sunny California after I inform them that Michigan is indeed where Calvin College is at. Sometimes looks of absolute schock and gaping mouths take the place of words, but it pretty much means the same thing. It is actually these reactions that made it so fun to talk to people about college plans. I'd get a kick out of it everytime. Conversations would then carry on to areas of interest that I might study, college athletics, carreers I might pursue, and so on, but I never tired of talking about it because I loved thinking about my future plans and how they seemed so nicely put together in my head. In a way, you could say that I was proud of how well I did with my planning and how ready I was for the days to come.
Now comes the point of humility. For some people in this situation, the point of humility comes when all their plans fall apart or when God decides to take their life a seperate path. Thankfully, God chose to humble me in a different manner. 3rd period Economics--great class. Every day before we begin class, my teacher opens with devotions based on a verse or two out of the book of James. One day, he begins to read James 4:13-15. Before I show you what the verse is, you should know that each of my friends and family have heard from me at least once or twice what my exact plans are for the next 5 years--college and all. I was set in my ways...and then I heard the words of James 4:13-15:

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

My teacher then proceeded to tell us a story of how God completely changed his plans and had to take a momentary detour from the life that he thought he had all figured out. I read the verse a few more times and heard loud and clear that God was telling me something.

No, I didn't stop right then and there and throw away all my plans I had, but what I did do was add a little phrase to the end: "Lord willing." We think we know it all when it comes to our life, but really, only God knows what tomorrow holds. James isn't saying that plans are bad, but he is saying that we have to humble ourselves and know that God is El Capitan. We can have plans, but keep in mind that we will only do this or that, Lord willing. Don't be surprised if there are detours here and there, or maybe a little traffic, or even a pit-stop.

If He wills it, we live it.