May 24 2011
A week ago I was anticipating meetings on the 18th and the 19th and the 20th and the 21st.  Doesn't everyone schedule pleasant events, challenging events, eagerly anticipated events?  My life fills up with ministries of various kinds, and this last week was not out of the ordinary in that.
But then I received an e-mail informing me that one of my aunt's was to have open-heart surgery; would I pray?  Would I ask others to pray?
Furthermore, Sunday night while they were taking the offering at church (okay, I was watching the live stream) I clicked over to check news and learned of the devastating tornado which had hit Joplin, MO.
This tornado was different from all the others so far this year because I have family in Joplin.
I know I went back and listened to the service on live stream.  I even took some notes.  However, I was divided.  I could not stop wondering if my cousin's family was still alive.  I sent queries.  I waited and I prayed.  Time passed and word came back.  They were fine but everyone's workplace had been wiped out.
Where am I going with this for today?  We can and ought plan, act prudently and prayerfully, but neither our possessions nor our lives are truly ours.  Whatever God gifts us with, we are stewards of.  The one sure thing is this:  circumstances can and will change, but God is the same every day and every where.