Making plans

She told us to make plans

but always be prepared

to change them, because

no one likes disrupting

a good plan

more than God

so we did, make plans,

that is, and the plans,

after preparation and study,

after intense focus and work,

and much prayer,

were implemented

they lasted slightly less

than a day, when we faced

the choice of change. We

remembered her words

and we adapted, not truly

understanding why

until the new thing

happened, sweeping us

into someone else’s

tragedy, sweeping us

into the arms

of the spirit

nothing was the same

ever

Photograph: Gutenberg School, Erfurt Germany, April 29, 2002. On April 26, a 19-year-old former student shot at killed 16 people at the school. Our short-term mission team was asked to go to alter our Eastern European trip and travel to Erfurt. It wrecked our carefully planned schedule, and it did change everything for us.