It came from out of nowhere and it was totally unexpected.

One moment things were normal and the next moment there was a loud booming noise emanating from the front room of the house.

I rushed out to see what was happening and our two boys were both screaming and crying at the top of their lungs.

Either Jacob or Joshua (at this point who can remember?) had turned the volume knob on the stereo all the way up (while it was still off) and then had managed to push the right button to turn on the stereo. What happened next was very unexpected for them and it resulted in screaming and tears.

Another time, I was in my office trying to get some things done, while at the same time trying to keep an eye on the twins while they were playing.

Suddenly, the phone rang. I was not expecting a phone call, but as I picked up the phone, I noticed that the caller id said the call was coming from my cell phone. I looked over and saw Joshua holding my cell phone in his hand.

Somehow, he had managed to push all the right buttons to make the call to our home line.

I started thinking about how our ministry is a lot like my kids—managed yet out of control. It’s directed but sometimes unexpected. There’s an overall plan and vision but things don’t always go according to the plan. Sometimes, we push all the right buttons, a connection is made and the results turn out exactly like we had planned.

But at other times, we’re pushing buttons, implementing our plans and strategies and things go totally different than expected. It’s times like those that I feel like my kids did when they pushed the stereo button and got a sudden, unexpected blast of noise.

So what are some of the unexpected results we’ve seen? Well, we bought 1000 Freshmen Survival Kits and passed them out at the Dining Commons. However, I didn’t expect that students might not want them and that we would have trouble getting rid of them all. The result is that we have about 80 Freshmen Survival kits that we not been able to deliver.

I also didn’t expect that there might be students from last year who didn’t want to be involved in our ministry this year.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, several of our freshmen from last year have chosen not to remain involved in our group.

Yet despite the fact that some things aren’t going exactly as planned, God continues to work within our group.

We have over 30 students who are leading or co-leading small groups. Students are discipling other students. Excitement and motivation for personal evangelism is up. Our freshmen groups are solid and students are growing.

We have two former students who are in Kazakhstan on a one year mission and another student who is planning on going over for a year next fall. Students are beginning to develop a heart for the world.

Our student leadership team is probably the healthiest and most mature group we’ve ever had and our current group of freshmen could be our best group as well.

There’s definitely a lot to be excited about. But the thing I have to continually remind myself of is that our strategies and formulas will never guarantee success. Simply pressing the right buttons doesn’t necessarily insure the desired outcome. Unless God chooses to work, everything we do will be in vain.

Please continue to pray that God would bless our ministry and bless the strategies and plans that we have made. And when things don’t go as planned, pray that we would have patience and trust that God is still working despite our failures.