People Plan . . .

People plan, God laughs.

One of my favorite quotes in all the world is “People plan, God laughs.”

Now, I don’t know that God actually laughs in these situations, although sometimes, after I have done something especially wacky (which happens more often than you think), I’ll look to the sky and say, “Boy, God, I’ll bet you found that one funny!”

My experience with Easter this year made me think of this quote. I am the children’s pastor at my church, and Easter is a BIG THING! Colossal egg hunt, fancy clothes, children’s song in the big service, perfectly-planned object lessons, backup games and songs in case service runs long—we’re talking BIG with a capital “B.”

I am not a planner by nature (God gave me my wife for that), but I do kick it in gear at Easter, because it is so BIG (Where have I heard that before?). I pray, I search for lessons and crafts and activities (Oh, my), I sort plastic eggs until my fingers are sore. This Easter was no different at that point.

The day before the holiday, something happened that necessitated me and my wife to be three hours away from home—away from my church and my plan, on Easter. Volunteers stepped up to fill the void, and I am grateful. Though my Easter didn’t look like the original plan. It held blessings that only God knew were in store for me.

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend about our writing careers (Is mine really a career? Not sure about that.), and we discussed how God sometimes changes our course. When I started writing and aiming to be published, I thought I knew how it would go. My genre choice was secure, and I had a piece I was POSITIVE would be my first publication.

That piece remains unpublished. Is God laughing? No. Instead, His hand is guiding my writing and my path in ways that could only be orchestrated by Him. I have been published numerous times, mostly in a genre I would have never chosen for myself.

I am not against planning—it is a good thing. But trusting God in the unknown trumps planning sometimes.

The lesson here? It’s okay to plan, but be open to having those plans changed. Sometimes you have to follow the laughter . . .

Carlton Hughes wears many hats. By day, he’s a professor of communication at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. On Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, he does object lessons and songs with motions as Children’s Pastor of Lynch Church of God. In his “spare time,” he is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Chicken Soup for the Soul and several devotional books from Worthy Publishing—Let the Earth Rejoice, Just Breathe, So God Made a Dog, and Everyday Grace for Men. Carlton and his wife Kathy have two college-age sons, Noah and Ethan. He is on the planning committee for Kentucky Christian Writers Conference and is a year-round volunteer for Operation Christmas child. He is represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary Agency.