When God's Plans are Way Better than Ours

In 1986, we moved to Canada on a ministry mission. It was a 100% faith-venture for all of us, including my mom. We had no idea what the future would hold, but we knew Who held our future. “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

I’ll limit the adventures of the next seven years to this one story that helps explain that scripture in our lives and, perhaps, in yours. Our daughter had a huge Oklahoma basketball career ahead of her and was chosen for the Junior Olympics BB team. In Canada, women's basketball was not quite there yet, so good-bye basketball. (FYI - the girl's still got game!) 😉🏀

We realized this girl needed grooming after having been a basketball “jock” for many years. On the bench, she would sit with her legs spread apart. I would hand-signal her: "Close those legs!" We put her into modeling school to help with poise and stage presence. Someone noticed this bubbly, outgoing, singing-machine girl and recommended that she try out for the local Miss Teen Winnipeg Pageant. She did and went "all-in"! Within days of the pageant, the directors deemed she would be the sure winner so they disqualified her from the competition. The reason? Her southern drawl just didn't epitimoze a girl from "the Great North". Though she was a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada because of her dad’s Canadian citizenship, the ball dropped on her aspirations...again.

Her daddy (her coach and number one promoter) was steamed at the bias and prejudice against his girl. He was on his way to getting legal counsel when God reminded him of that scripture above. It was heart-wrenching at the time, but “oh the plans God had for her”. Not long after, an aunt called us and recommended that she try out for the David Foster Coca Cola World Chorus that would represent many countries at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. Staci was one of 8,500 Canadians chosen by David Foster to represent Canada. She went on to be a soloist at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The next year, at age 18, after training her voice to be less “southern”, she won the Miss Winnipeg Manitoba Pageant and won the talent portion of the Miss Canada Pageant,

I could go on and on about the doors that opened to our girl. Who knew that a huge step of faith would open so many doors? God did. It’s been years since those seven years of “Canadian plenty”, but I often find myself thinking about those years when my plans don’t unfold as I’d hoped. When I’m praying for open doors, yet they remain closed; when I’m pleading for a “yes,” but the answer is “no”; when I’m asking for change, but everything seems to stay the same. I remind myself of the truth that my daughter once learned: A frustrating “no” may be setting the stage for a forthcoming “yes.”

We have a loving Father who knows things we don’t. And sometimes, He needs to “wreck” our agenda in order to render His. It takes faith to believe that promise when life isn’t going as we’d expected. But I’m learning that we don’t need to know all of God’s ways to accept His will. We simply need to trust His heart. God is for us, not against us When we remember who God is, we can better embrace what He’s doing, even if He says “no.” Someday, when we look back at our lives through eternity’s lens, we’ll want to throw our arms around our faithful Father and say, “Thanks for spoiling my plans, Dad. Yours were even better!”

No Fear! You Only Live Once

It was the yellow Mustang convertible that I would have for a week while my car is being repaired, that energized the idea of the 3-generations (Me, my daughter and granddaughter) to take to the road. "The Road" was only around here in Frisco and over to Arlington TX, but we sure had a "Girls Wanna' Have Fun" couple of days.

Alexia was the master planner. After all, it's soon to be her 16th birthday month, so we followed her plans. First, we went to see the "Spider Man" movie (again) and then with the top down, we drove around Frisco, to the pet store (one of her favorite places) where she cuddled an adorable cocker spaniel that looked just like "Desi", a dog that Staci had when she was younger. Then it was going for Mexican food. We made it back to my home for a sleep-over and chartered our course for the next day (yesterday).

Our big road trip turned out to be to Six Flags Over Texas. Who knew that this would be the perfect day to go. It was cloudy all day, the crowds were minimal, so the line waits were minimal. In fact, often, we would just walk right up to the ride and get on.

This was my-kind-of-day. I think it must have started when I was young and enjoyed all the thrills of the rides at the Texas State Fair. I was fearless on any ride and the faster, higher, and the more up and downs it had -- the better. My two children were the same way. So, naturally, Staci plotted the course for our day with the "Extreme Thrills" rides first. Alexia made it very clear that she wouldn't be going on most of those. Oh, not so! FEAR isn't in our genes. We began to speak faith and excitement into her. We spoke into her about not speaking, acting, or even implying fear. YOLO -- you only live once, was repeated over and over. Staci asked "Will you trust me? I'll plot the course for working our way up to the most extreme." Alexia agreed but when we approached those rides, I could see she her reluctance. As we were headed to what looked to be a milder ride, Alexia said, "Look, there's hardly any line there. Let's ride that one." I saw it and thought "Oh, that's a 'sissy' one. Let's not do that one first." Staci said, "Mom, let's go ahead and ride this one with her." And, "this one" happened to have been "The Riddler" -- one of the craziest, wildest and fastest. Late, Staci told me that it really was one she planned to work up to, but since Alexia said "Let's go!", then "Let's go!" That FIRST STEP. That bold STEP of FAITH -- opened up Alexia's wild side -- that "no fear" side, because for the rest of the day, she wanted more and more -- and even did repeats on most of them. By the end of the day, Alexia and Staci waited to get the front seat on each crazy ride! NO FEAR!

And, the Roaring Rapids ride was by far the most hilarious because Staci had seen how soaking wet some of the riders were that rode it, but we kept saying "YOLO" to her and she came, but ended up sitting in the very seat that gets the greatest amount of water in it. She was soaked head to toe, but took it like the resilient champ she is and, in fact, presented those of us in that boat with a comedy show.

I'm making several points with this post today:
1) Live with no regrets. Be spontaneous. Plan a road trip near or far -- but do it with those you love and those who have memories from where you're headed. We sure did.

2) Help and encourage someone, who has some fears that keep them from enjoying the fullness of life -- to face those fears and take the first step. They'll be so grateful to you for helping them conquer their fears.

3) YOLO -- you only live once. What are you afraid to do? What do you hide behind that keeps you from getting the most out of this life. After all -- this is the only one you get on this side of heaven -- YOLO -- you only live one.

4) Keep making memories. We talked a lot about my sweetheart today. He loved Six Flags. He always won big prizes for Staci at the games. He loved the shows, especially the Crazy Horse Saloon and the show girls! LOL! We talked about Larry and how his Mom used Six Flags for child care for him. And, we made our own memories today -- laughing so hard at some of our shenanigans that we'll remember for years to come.

Go ahead.....take the first step! YOLO! How appropriate were the t-shirts being sold at the Texas Giant roller coaster: Be a Chicken or Be a Giant.....it's your choice!

Take the First Step

Martin Luther King said, "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

I know what was at the top of those two stairs in the photo. The first set was in my home in Sapulpa, OK that I moved from four years ago. Going UP those stairs, you'd find two more bedrooms, an office, a bathroom and a game room. But it didn't end there. There was a pull-down ladder that took you to a massive floored attic with plenty of storage space. It was great to have until my Sweetheart passed away, and when I went up there to see what he'd been storing up there, I gasped and hollered "Ronald Wuerch, what were you thinking -- leaving me with all this stuff to deal with?" LOL! Going back downstairs, you'd find the master bedroom, two baths, a dining room, great room and office. Going outside, there was a small lake at the back of the property that my kids and grandkids loved to hang out at and catch lots of fish.

The second set of steps in this photo take you FROM a crystal-clear, flowing creek, filled with an abundance of fish and waterfalls which all are a play area for my grandsons in Austin. Going UP those steps you'd find a beautiful pool, tennis court, barn, and house -- all of which my kids have made home.

Both of those sets of stairs started with taking STEPS of faith. My husband and I didn't know that would be the last home we would live in together, but having faith in God and His perfect plans and timing for our lives, we purchased that home -- that, by the way, needed a lot of renovations. It was long and hard work, but it was so worth it for the memories we made there, the precious family times, the Bible Studies and people's lives that were transformed there.

The steps on the 2nd photo represent the faith that my kids, Ryan and Shawntel, had in making a huge move from Seattle, the city, friends, church and the major league baseball and football teams they loved so much, to move all the way to Austin, TX. Sure they had walked up and down those steps many times before they took a giant step of faith to move there. They didn't see how it would all pan out, but their faith in God, caused them to take the first step. And, they, too, are making beautiful memories, meeting lots of new friends, sharing their home with missionaries and others as they invite family and friends in to their warm, welcoming home filled with God's love and peace.

Will there always be blue skies, birds chirping, and fish jumping in our lives once we take those FIRST STEPS? No, there won't. There WILL be days that climbing those steps seem insurmountable. There will be times when refusing to climb altogether is the easiest thing to do. There will be moments when we may wonder "Was this STEP OF FAITH really faith in action or presumption in action?" Here's the good news. Faith is not a matter of seeing what God is doing. Rather, faith is a matter of seeing God. Or, to put it another way, I may not know where God is leading, but I can trust that it is sufficient that He knows.

We can say to the Lord, "I am not going to put my faith in what I THINK you are doing. Rather, I am going to put my faith in YOU -- and be willing to see the Truth about what you are doing."

We are told to do this in Proverbs 3,5. "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not upon your own understanding." It isn't that God won't bring understanding. But it is, by faith that we TRUST.

Faith is never a mistake because faith is trust in the One who never makes a mistake. God will not fail to get us to where He desires if we continue to believe and trust Him. So, let's go ahead and take that first step. It's NO STEP for a STEPPER!

Is Your Home Built on Solid Rock or Sinking Sand?

We were just kids when we married (I was 17; he was 18). Funny the dreams we had back then. Often, we'd go “looking” for our dream home…. the newest mobile home models, in hopes of owning one someday. That was pie-in-the-sky dreaming back then, because my husband was a college student, and I was working my first $1.25/hr clerical job. Our “dream” changed when his uncles, who were in construction, took in a home on trade, and sold it to us. We purchased that cute little home in 1967 for $7,000. Our house payment was $67 a month which seemed astronomical at the time. A couple of years later, we sold it for $14,000 – we thought we had struck it rich! How far we came over the years of maturing, growing our family and depending on God more, as we took many more steps of faith”. And, each step continued to solidify our foundation.

In the 70s, we moved to Oklahoma, and, before we knew it, our young dreams came true. We purchased a mobile home that backed up to Lake Keystone. And, you’re probably thinking, “Are you kidding me? You bought a mobile home that backed up to the water in "Tornado Alley"?” Indeed we did. And we encountered many opportunities to stretch our faith, especially during every one of those tornados that came barreling down the lake. Thanks be to God -- we weathered them all. And with each one, whether it was a literal storm (tornado) or financial storm, or illness storm, or relationship storm, our HOME's foundation grew more solid. It was with each storm, that our HOME and our lives, became more secure and blessed.

Jesus likened the person who hears and keeps His teachings to a wise man who builds his house on the ROCK (Matthew 7:24). Not even the fiercest storm can bring it down. So I ask you today....solid rock or sinking sand? On what foundation are you choosing to build your life, and the lives of your family, today? If we want life’s truest treasures -- say "NO" to sinking sand, and say "YES" to building upon the Rock of Ages. It sure does make for a blessed, secure and comfortable home AND life!