A Boy And His Piano

This weekend, October 30-November 1 is the annual Fall Production at Bethany College. All of the tickets are sold out, and it is going to be an awesome night. I play the part of a crazy Neurologist. Although I only have one scene, I love the play and really enjoy my role in it. The play is about a boy, Gregory, who wants a puppy. He believes he is getting a puppy for his birthday, but when the day comes, his father buys him a $2,875 Steinway Piano. Gregory then gets into numrous fights with his parents, especially his dad, and begins to pretend that his piano is actually a dalmation. He goes so far as to paint spots on the piano, and even gets 'puppies' for Steinway. It is a very funny, very heartwarming play which is going to resonate with many of the people who come to watch the play. I ask you all to pray for this weekend. Pray that lines will be remembered, props will all work out according to plan, lights will work, mics will work, and that God will work through the play. Ask God to open the hearts of those who come to the play, and that, somehow, they will experience God during the play. I wish you were all able to come (all 5 of you that actually read this, lol) and enjoy what is going to be an entertaining night.

Plans

"If you want to make God laugh, make plans". I don't remember where I heard this quote, and I know it is not necessarily true, but there are definately times that it does ring true. We all make plans, and we often all see plans fall apart due to unforseen situations. I'm going to share with you a story from my past few years at Bethany to illustrate this point.
My reasoning for coming to Bethany College, in the small prairie town of Hepburn, was to be a part of their travelling drama team The Bethany Players! I saw them perform at my church and I was enthralled, and wanted to follow in their footsteps. Unfortunately God had different plans, and I didn't make the team. He did put me onto a different, unofficial drama team, however it wasn't as illustrious as I hoped, and I was very bitter. My next year, I returned to Bethany with the same hopes and dreams. Once again, my plans fell through and God's plan won out (who would have thought). This year I was even more bitter. "GOD HOW COULD YOU!?" My entire year was spent being angry and bitter, frustrated at what could have been, and forgetting about what was actually happening. My third year, guess what happened...same thing. Once again God took my plans, and flipped them around. It was a very frustrating time for me.
Why do I share this story? Because I think, while the circumstances change for all of us, we all experience dissapointment. We all make plans, and we all have plans fail. The real question of life is, "when plans fail, how do you react?" I pray that you don't react the same way I did. I hope you don't get filled wiht bitterness, resentment and hatred for those who achieved what you only dreamed of achieving. I hope you don't write a nasty, hateful and hurtful blog which expresses exactly how you feel without any conscience for those reading it (yes...I did it, and it was a TERRIBLE idea...think before you blog). My hope is that you get up, move on and trust that God has an even bigger plan for you. Perhaps right now you are experiencing dissapointment. Maybe you wanted to make a team, a club, get a certain job, make a certain friend. PErhaps you wanted a special someone to like you, or you want a certain someone to just leave you alone. I have no idea, but trust me when I say this...while your plans may fall through, God will always make sure that his plan is fulfilled. While his plan may seem to be terrible, know that he loves you, and wants what is best for you in the long run. WE may not understand it, and often we don't, but God has a marvelous plan for you life. Don't be bitter and angry, just stand up, brush yourself off, and trust that he will get you to where HE wants YOU to go.