A change of Plans

In the book of James beginning in chapter 4 v.13-14 the author gives a stern warning to those who make boasts about the future. “Now listen you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow…

You might be wondering why you’re reading this blog in the third week of March when I said I would be in the jungle by March 11. Here’s where this passage in James pertains to our present situation.

The time we have spent in Paramaribo since March 4 has been a whirlwind of various natural and manmade obstacles. When we got to the city and quickly began to run the various errands that come with a six-week period away. We scheduled a flight back into the interior for Wednesday March 11. We were told that flights were not going out the day because of a Hindu national holiday in Suriname (Suriname is pretty diverse, 30% of the population is Hindustani- besides, most aren’t quick to fight a state mandated day off from work- regardless of what it represents) So, there was a possible flight on Thursday to Ditabikii which we tentatively penciled in….and then came the flood.

After hearing rain pour for most of the night in a state of quasi-consciousness that prevented me from gauging intensity of it, I woke up, walked into the kitchen and onto a floor fully covered in a thin layer of water. Shocked, I looked outside and saw our street which had become a canal and came to the conclusion that the rain apparently fell so fast and so hard that night as to rise and creep under our front door. From there it found its way into our front room. Thankfully, our house is covered in tile and it was possible to sweep out all the water with a squeegee. As you can guess, much of the city was inundated. The rain, continuing to fall for three more days didn’t help. As a consequence, flights were canceled. Our next planned departure: Saturday.

We told our families we’d be leaving a little later and told our tutors in the interior the same. Later that week we just needed to finish a few details with our stay papers and we’d be golden. However, as with all document work it was not as expedient as we had anticipated. Everyday brought forth a new development that couldn’t have varied greater than the previous day’s. We were sitting, waiting, wishing…and didn’t dare venture to make any more predictions about when we would be heading back.

As we woke up each day having no knowledge of how long our wait would be, the words of the Apostle James were continually coming to my mind. So to finish the passage James says in vs/ 14-15, “What is your life? You are but a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

While I feel that me and Taylor have been far from making rash predictions or absolutes about our future we have been made further aware of how so much of our life is outside of our control. We are “a mist that appears for a while and then vanishes”. For now (If the Lord wills it) we are heading to Ditabikii Saturday and have a tentative date of return sometime during the last week of April. Thanks for all your prayers and this blog will be updated if/when we get back. :)

As I was reading my devotions today I came across a verse in Proverbs quite applicable both for me and all of you.


“Many are the plans in a man’s heart , but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21