What’s the Plan?

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. It’s one of my favorite quotes. Benjamin Franklin was a smart guy and I think we would have been friends. Probably would have been friends with Winston Churchill too because he said something similar. Two great world leaders who knew a lot about success against adversity. Ah ha. Take that naysayers. Neurotic planners are in good company. <April sticks out tongue at fam.>

You could know me for five minutes and know that I’m a planner. Oh I have a plan and 3 contingency plans for the plan. Probably got a contingency to the contingency, but who’s counting. Back before there was an app for it, I made my own touring plans for our family trips to the theme parks. AND THEY WERE LAMINATED. I mean, come on… it rains in Florida a lot.

For our family mountain vacations, I took a different approach to the plan. I made a poster with colored coded post it notes. Gotta love a good system. (There’s probably a medication I should take.) This plan allowed the family to see the activities, meals, and ideas for the day. Everyone shared the things they wanted to do or eat. I then did the research for when they could be done and created the tentative plan. Together we moved things into place and if they were solidified we taped down the post it note. When we went to the grocery store, each kid was given a sublist of supplies to acquire. Everyone helped and everyone understood why. 

To some this is insanity. To me, this prevented insanity. With four kids, we had to have a plan because this mama could NOT just wing it. Without a plan, someone would have been upset when their most anticipated activity was missed or their favorite meal was overlooked. I like to think that this also helped the kids see not only what goes into planning a vacation, but creating a plan in general. Come on – this is pretty educational. 😉 Bet Winston and Ben would think so. 

So now that it’s just Eric and I, we have left the laminated touring plans and poster boards behind. But in anticipation of our upcoming trip to Jackson Hole, I have an itinerary in a note on my phone with links. It’s fabulous. (Single tear.)

I like to think that God graced me with the ability to anticipate what needs to be done, to develop a plan and to accomplish the goal. It’s a skill that has served me well. It can cause me to be rigid at times and I’ve learned a bit more about going with the flow – the amount of which is different depending on who in my life you ask. But preparing and being ready is biblical and I remind Eric and the kids of that fact any time they give me grief about my methods. I mean how else would Noah have gotten all those animals on the ark or Moses dealt with all those folks coming out of Egypt. Some plans are better than others, but someone has to take charge and lead the group or things don’t happen. Ok Ok. I hear the groaning. But I planned for that. So here’s a scripture. 😉

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

Proverbs 21:5