The Plans of the Heart

I've been in hardcore planning mode of late. Come Thanksgiving, two FOROs that I have a significant role in (the DR and Jamaica), on-field orientation for three new missionaries, a presentation on the long-term impact of short-term teams at the Beautiful Feet Mission Conference, and short-term teams in Jamaica and Peru will all be in the rear-view mirror.

Good thing I'm squeezing a vacation in there, too! Not your average vacation, either: I'm staying on in Peru for an extra week after the aforementioned short-term team to do a 4-day/3-night (NO phone, NO computer!) trek to Machu Picchu. I'm not sure when doing this became the number one thing on my bucket list, but to say I'm excited would be an understatement. 

Besides booking the trek itself, I've also checked off flights from Lima to Cusco, a hostel in Cusco, and hiking shoes. That last one was a doozy. I'm a pretty low maintenance person and can get everything I need and most things I want in the Dominican. There are NO outdoors stores here, though, which is odd to me given that hiking is such a popular tourist attraction. The idea of ordering shoes without trying them on had been weighing on me for days until I finally pulled the trigger earlier this evening. My choice came highly recommended, so I'm praying they work out and I can get tons of mileage (no pun intended) out of them around here after the fact. 

They'll make their way to me via a fellow Jamaica FORO attendee, along with a winter hat and waterproof gloves as I slowly make my way through the intimidating packing list. Gracious missionary friends have offered to let me borrow a poncho, hiking socks, a day pack, and a solar powered charger. What's GORE-TEX, though? Do I need rain pants? This is why I stick to running and walking - you don't need all this gear! Needless to say, I went from the triumph of seeing the Amazon confirmation email for my shoes grace my inbox to feeling utterly defeated and unprepared. 

Proverbs 16:1 comes to mind. It's one of those verses that sounds a gazillion times better in Spanish (NVI) than English, if you ask me:

El hombre propone y Dios dispone.

It rhymes! For you Anglophones, though: 

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

The plans of my heart are just that - the plans of my heart. A scary thought, given its innately sinful condition. The LAC women's discussion group I'm part of is currently going through Heidi Goehmann's study Casting Stones. On Friday, one of the questions we came across was "What areas of life do you most often like to have control over?" Uhhhhh...there isn't enough space on the page!? Hi, my name is Erin, and I'm a control freak. Lists and schedules and spreadsheets are solidly within my wheelhouse, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. He has the last word. Plans are helpful, even necessary, but they become an idol when I fail to recognize the sovereignty of the God who made and carried out the best plan of all when He sent the Word into the world to die and rise and cleanse my heart. 

I'm pretty excited about how the recuerdos for the DR FORO turned out, though (it might help to know Friday's cultural excursion is to the Mirabal Sisters Home Museum)!

More on that and all of the other things I'm planning for while doing my best to listen attentively for the Lord's answer of the tongue soon. Until next time, blessings!