The plans of heaven...

"When men make plans, God laughs."

What do we know of the plans of heaven?  If my "plans" had gone off without a hitch, I would have a doctorate in sacred theology.  I would be a professor at a prestigious Catholic university.  I would be a wife and mother... and I would be miserable.  The man I would have married had nothing in common with me other than politics and religion, and was a verbally abusive philanderer. 

By contrast, having given my plans over to my Heavenly Father, I am very happily married.  I am a card-carrying member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, an affiliation which probably would have dissolved my tenure anyway.  Maybe I don't teach deep theology, but I will one day teach my children the simple truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I'm not a mother yet, but I will be when the Lord knows I am ready.  It's up to me to stave off the impatience and continually hand my life off to the One Who knows me better than I know myself. 

Today, I attended a funeral for a 24-year-old girl.  She was a friend of Katie's when they were younger; she was married and had a young son.  I am relatively certain that in all the days she imagined her life, she never thought it would be taken from her so soon.  I hope now that she can see the plan set before her, a plan far greater than any of us could ever imagine. 

It is difficult, whether we are blinded by grief or our own narrow-mindedness, to see the plans that our Heavenly Father has made for us.  May we be able to open our hearts and surrender a little more.  Even when life doesn't go as we plan, He will use all things for good.  We only have to trust that He will not let us fall.