Best Laid Plans

By: Heather Shoffstall, Director of Student Ministry

August is planning month at Dutilh Student Ministry. What will we be studying at DSM Wednesday Nights? What events and retreats will we have this year? How often will Student Leadership meet? Most of the month is spent in meetings and discussions about the next 12 months.  However, if we learned anything this summer it is that we cannot start planning without leaving room for the Holy Spirit to move and work.

Proverbs 16:3 tell us “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” (NIV)

In September of 2024 we committed to go to the Gulf Coast of Louisiana for our summer of 2025 mission trip with Praying Pelican Missions (PPM). All that we knew at the beginning was that we would be going to the New Orleans area to help with hurricane relief. And so, the planning began. We began budgeting for driving to Louisiana, reserving rental vans, finding hotels for the drive down and back, and asking for volunteers that would be willing to drive the 20+ hours that it would take for us to go and serve this area. Then Spring came and a change to our plans began to occur.

The church that we were to serve was unable to house us the week we were planning, so PPM asked if we could change our destination to Vinton, LA. The biggest issue with changing to Vinton was that it added 4 hours to our already 2-day drive. So, we began to pray about the trip… we committed our plans to the Lord. It turned out that we were able to fly instead of drive with the help of some amazing donations to the trip.

Then we arrived in Vinton with all intentions of drywalling the new sanctuary at our host church. Plans changed just a few days before we arrived when the inspections of the electricity were not completed. So, no drywalling. We again prayed that God would use us to the best of our abilities and that we would grow in our spiritual journeys. We were able to complete several projects for Morning Star Baptist that stretched us and gave us so much joy. We completed landscaping projects, hurricane debris clean-up, painting, lawn and cement work.

However, the thing that we all experienced was growth in our own spiritual journeys. We prayed together, for the community, and for each other in ways that helped each one of our students and volunteers grow in their own faith. So, as we launch into a new season at DSM, we have set an intention to follow Proverbs 16:3. We are going to put aside our plans and allow the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us.