We just had our first weekend at Briar Ridge and it was wonderful! It wasn’t exactly what we had planned, but it came together even better than we could have imagined. We had the weekend completely booked, but got a call Monday that the booking had fallen through. That meant we got on the phones, and reached out as best as we could. And once again the weekend was a go. By Wednesday we had about 10 kids planning on coming and we were excited for it to begin. By Friday evening, we were back down to 4 kids, but we headed up praying for God’s will to be done throughout the weekend.
Friday evening was great with everyone getting to know each other and having a great devotion. We all just sat around and planned for how Saturday would go. Saturday morning went well, with almost everyone getting to see deer, but no shots fired. We came back to camp and had a good breakfast. And then we had a devotion at lunch. After that it was back to the stands.
Saturday evening was a blessing, we had a couple of kills. And we ended the night with a wonderful devotion from Bro. James Edwards. We finished off the weekend Sunday morning with another hunt and headed home.
It was a wonderful weekend, but not exactly what we had planned. And that’s really where this blog begins. The weekend was better than we could have planned. You see in our prayers we always pray, that God would send who He would want to be there. Our plans are just made to calm our earthly worries. It helps let us think that we have a little bit of control of something. In truth, we don’t have control over anything in our lives. We can plan and schedule every minute of every day, but in the end, it will all go according to God’s plan.
In Jeremiah, God speaks about His plans for our lives. He knew who we were, before we even were. He has plans to give us a hope and a future. But sometimes our earthly plans get in the way of that. I know in the past mine surely have. I’ve messed up, and derailed his plans so many times in my life. And in the end maybe all of that was the plan. But if you would have told me say five years ago, I would move to a small town I had never heard of, not go to the same church I went to my whole entire life, and be mysteriously happy with the chaos that is my life, well, I surely would have doubted your sanity. But, sane or not, here I am living in God’s plan. And His plan is so much better than anything I could have ever dreamed possible.
I pray that you take some time today to ask God to work His perfect plan in your life. It starts with asking Him to be Lord of everything you do. Then it follows with walking in obedience every minute of every day. It’s not always easy, I can assure you of that. But, I can also assure you, it will be worth it. You will look back on this journey and smile knowing that all those times you messed up, or unexpectedly took the scenic route. Well, all those times are a part of His plan too. Take joy in the journey, and know that we at Briar Ridge pray that your journey begins and ends with Christ.
Have a blessed day, and a joyful journey!
Love in Christ,
Briar Ridge
P.S. If you or anyone you know has a child that would like to come for a weekend at Briar Ridge, please contact us and we will try to make a plan! 601-441-3257