"Through many dangers, toils, and snares, l have already come

'Twas grace that bro't me safe thus far and grace will lead me home." - John Newton

It's only early March, but in a sense I'm holding my breath. I have what seems like so many things coming up soon and happening in my life. We've got a little deck construction job, a laundry list of things to do with my car, Deniese is traveling to visit her sisters this weekend, a road trip early next month, Kieran is coming next week, Dave's going on spring break, something to do with a sun porch, and the Melansons are house hunting and we're giving them a little help. I love it! After a winter of sitting on my hands and not getting to dig in and work on things, finally events are starting to "warm up" around here, pretty much all at once. If idle hands are the devil's playground, then busy hands must be God's.

In a big way this is where my son Dave is at, too. He's wrapping up his senior year at high school and giving a hard look at the future. He isn't sure what's gong to happen, but I am excited about it for him. He doesn't yet see the many opportunities he has, or fully grasp the advantage of his young age to explore so many of them. I was scared silly when I was 18 and unsure where I would ever fit in. Some folks never get past this!

The difference between his anticipation and mine, I reckon, is that I seem to have a solid plan. I can tell you on what day most of my upcoming events are going to occur. All Dave knows is that he's going to get a diploma on a certain date, and then life gets interesting. But that doesn't mean things can't go wrong for me, or right for him. A plan is great but things don't always work out according to plan. (That's ok, sometimes that seems to be what God has planned for me in spite of what I've come up with myself!)

I could lose my job. I could have an illness. I could lose my sight. Someone might need me - my parents might become sick or someone pass away and I need to care for a child. I could be sued, my house could burn down, my brethren might fall on hard times. There are so many things that could derail my plans! Sometimes having no plan seems better, so you can just go with the flow. I've done that, too, and while it is painless living for a time (no disappointments) you don't really get anywhere either.

The thing is, I have always been solid in attendance to Godly matters. I never had a time where I skipped coming to services, or even missed Wednesday night bible studies. I immersed myself with Godly people, and came to potlucks, singings, and the like. This was just me on my own, no parents or siblings or wife to nudge me along. Unfortunately, I didn't always have brethren who made me feel especially welcome, either. In spite of that, what I have found is that while you don't always have to plan on life, you DO have to plan on heaven. There's so many out there who would gladly lead you astray (How about working Sundays, Randy? We pay time and a half!) either willingly or by chance. Some who would discourage us (I never thought you'd amount to anything, anyway) and beyond that even some who needlessly put things in our way (Randy, you need to work the truth if you want to get ahead in business. You're just not a team player)

We don't deserve the mercy and blessings God pours on us sometimes, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be grateful for them! There are many things I might encourage my son to plan on, but the only one that really, really matters is to plan on going to heaven one day. I guarantee that everything else - troubles, joys, finances, romances, dreams, and reality - will fall into place if we just focus on this one goal It may not be the way we expect, but it will. And it will lead us home.

Randy