Not THIS Flexible

I always ask teams to be flexible, even before they ever hit the field as they browse the DRAFT (yes, I usually include that word in all caps in the filename) schedules I send them. 

I didn't mean THIS flexible, though, in the case of a Belize mission team from Trinity Lutheran in Houston, TX. I'm supposed to be landing at Philip W. Goldson International Airport soon; instead, I'm blogging. 

A group of nine was supposed to install a playground at Little Lambs Lutheran Preschool in Valley of Peace beginning Thursday. The Belize mission's resident contractor & his hardworking crew had long ago removed the old equipment and leveled the terrain so work could begin bright and early. 

And it would have, except there sits the palette...having never left the shipper's US warehouse. What was supposed to arrive in-country on June 12 is now expected on or after July 2. 

The team leader messaged me Thursday at 12:33 pm to see when I could hop on a call, ominously saying we needed to make a "hard pivot." Two and a half hours later, six of us were deliberating the merits of various alternative plans. In the end, walking with the local church trumped all else. The team wasn't only going to install a playground, they were going to involve members of the community in their labor and rejoice together at its fruits. Instead of changing their tack, they'll still do all of that, albeit it at a later date. 

Who knows why God didn't want the 10 of us in Belize this week? His ways are not our ways, and we humbly yield to His perfect will. My prayer is that I find ways to use unexpected time at home to glorify Him at work and at play. 

Until next time, blessings in Christ!