About forty or so years ago, when my husband was in the USAF and we had three children ranging in age from thirteen to five, we had plans to move overseas. We were living in Arkansas at the time when the opportunity arose to go to Japan. So, my husband applied and got accepted. All of our household goods were packed up, the car was sold and we thought we were on our way. A real answer to prayer, or so we thought. Then we got a message from command saying that my husband and children could go but I was not allowed to because of my health issues. My husband, being loyal and not really wanting to take care of three small children alone while I lived a single life in the states, turned down the orders and waited for the next opportunity.

That came in the form of a chance to go to Iceland. Iceland? Really? Not exactly the ideal place for this southern, hate ice and snow girl! But, I was willing, if not enthusiastic, so Harry put in the paperwork. The next snafu came in the form of housing problems. Military people live on base there because the housing off the base is exorbitantly expensive. The problem was that there was a two-year wait for base housing. So, we prayed (fumed some about the plans once again being thwarted) and Harry decided to go on a “remote” tour to Iceland for a year. That means he went alone and I had to find a place to live while he was gone.

Back to the prayer closet, this time with an urgent request for God to show me where the children and I should live while Harry was gone for a year. The Spirit spoke to my heart to return to South Carolina. We had lived there for over six years already, just not six years in a row, but several different tours there made me familiar with the area. I knew people there, had a church there and was confident we could find someplace for us to live while Harry was gone.

So, off we went to South Carolina, in our very old Lincoln since our newer car had sold. (Remember the orders to Japan that fell through?) We found an apartment near the church I planned to attend. The apartment was okay, nothing fancy, but furnished and basic. And it fit the bill of being near the church, Northside Assembly.

Thus, I moved in, got the children enrolled in school and settled in as best I could to wait out the year totally alone as a single parent. This was about the middle of September, so I knew I would not be able to find a teaching job, but I figured the kids would need me at home more since we had just moved, had very few of our personal belongings (in storage due to the orders to Japan) and I was going to help them make the best of the situation.

Then the unexpected phone call came. I had taught at Northside Academy, a Christian school based at our church, for a couple of years the last time I had been in the area. When the principal found out that I was living in South Carolina again, she called and told me that she had a dilemma and hoped I could help out. The seventh grade teacher had a health crisis (terminal cancer) and was out of the picture for the foreseeable future. Her students were devastated because of her illness, the poor prognosis and having no one to step in and teach them. So, Loretta, the principal, asked me if I would be willing to teach these students that I had last seen when they were in third grade. I told her I would pray about it and get back to her. I did, God affirmed that it was a good plan, especially since Loretta said that Steven, our youngest and in kindergarten, could attend the school there and I would only teach half a day so that I could go home when his school was dismissed.

Why am I telling you this long-winded story? Is there a point? Of course, there is! God had a plan. Harry and I didn’t know the plan, but we did pray and fell in with God’s plan that He already knew because He could see the big picture. Japan? Nope! Iceland? Nope? South Carolina? Yep! I was needed there for a group of heartbroken kids whose teacher ended up passing away shortly after I took over. I was a familiar face in their sea of uncertainty, and I did my best to assure them that I was there for them and that God loved them enough to make sure that they had a teacher for the year. I also got to tell them all about God’s plans for Harriet. The last time they had seen her, she had been very ill and then she died. We got to talk a lot about Heaven and God’s promises that year.

This whole episode made me think of Joseph. No, I was not sold into slavery by my brothers. But Joseph ended up unexpectedly in Egypt and God used his stay there to bless the Israelites during a time of famine and to make sure that they were cared for. God is a God of details, and He worked things out for Joseph’s betraying brothers and his elderly father to come to Egypt to live where they could thrive until the next plan God had for them came along.

It was not the original plan, but I ended up in South Carolina. I was a space-filler, but I was a needed one at that time. God fills needs and spaces with those willing to listen and change their plans for His. Was the move easy? No, but it was necessary and God used me for His purpose in that little school in South Carolina. We got some of our personal things delivered from storage when I went to the base chaplain and appealed to him for help, since our children had no winter clothes or toys. We prayed about that, too, and God answered. If you know anything about the military, they do not easily change their plans for anyone. Their plan was for our items to remain in storage until Harry finished his remote tour. Instead, through God’s grace and mercy and the intervention of a kind and understanding chaplain, I had about a dozen or so boxes delivered to our temporary home in South Carolina. God is good and works out all the little things to help us make the best of the plan He is working through.

I taught. The children thrived with their SC friends. Harry enjoyed being in Iceland and came home in November for an early Christmas celebration with the kids. Then in July, I went to Iceland for almost a month to be with Harry while our children stayed with my close friend and fellow teacher and her children. We didn’t know it, but like Joseph, we had been blessed to be a blessing.

The military and their rules did not intend to harm me or our family, but God used them and their many regulations to send me where I needed to be, to help children who were grieving the loss of a beloved teacher and who did not understand what would happen for their school year. No, I did not save lives, but I did witness to them, as I am testifying to you, of God’s goodness and His plans. His timing is always perfect, even when it doesn’t make sense to me until afterwards.

Go with God’s flow. His plan is the right one and His timing is always just on time.