When Plan B is really the A Plan

Over the last couple of months our two oldest children, MD and Christina, have experienced the disappointment of being turned down for college jobs they really wanted. In walking with them through this process my wife Denise shared her own disappointment concerning a job she applied for in college.

During Denise’s sophomore year she decided she didn’t want to go back to her old summer job at the local K-Mart. Her A Plan was to stay on campus and become an orientation mentor for incoming students. It was a highly sought after job. But in spite of the competition Denise applied and went through the entire process before being told she would be an alternate.

Disappointed, Denise turned to her Plan B, which was to apply for a job as a counselor at a Christian camp near Evart, MI. Her good friend, Jodi Urban Blanchard, had been both a camper and a summer staffer and raved about the camp. So when Denise received the offer for the job by the program director, Mike Hollenbeck, she took it.

Well, you know the rest of the story. The camp was SpringHill, and it was during this summer that Denise and I fell in love with SpringHill and became good friends with Mark Olson (we were dating at the time so I’d come visit on her day off).

It was through our friendship with Mark that we continued our involvement with SpringHill, first as ambassadors and donors, then eventually, in 1998, going on full-time staff.

With hindsight we clearly see how God used this disappointment in Denise’s life to lead us to the place He wanted us to be and to do the things He planned for us to do. It was this lesson that she shared with MD and Christina – “God has a better plan for you, though you might not see it now, one day you may be able to look back and see your B Plan was really God’s A Plan.”