"Do you think he plans it all out or does he make it all up as he goes along?"

Today was the beginning of Summer Camp. Today a bunch of tired, restless, then suddenly energetic kids flooded the Church. But my day started before they arrived. It started at 7 this morning arranging furniture, practicing skits for class and doing devotions. All a normal part of preparation. What was not normal is the state subsidized food truck not arriving on time. What was not normal is being given the keys to Pastor Trevor's van , a roll of cash, and being told that we need breakfast for 100 kids in 20 minutes. I broke some speed limit laws, and maybe a few others as well. But My roommate and I succeeded in buying cereal and milk and juice for 100 kids in 20 minutes. I am proud of myself and my road rage.
I have noticed that many people like plans. We plan out our day (sometimes to the minute), we plan out our meals for the week, we plan out the next five years...it doesn't happen here. I do not know why many of us insist on making such extensive plans. Maybe that is how we control the world around us, give it a semblance of normalcy, maybe that is just how we cope with what life has given us. There are maybe as many reasons as there are people, but Jersey City is not plan orientated. They are people orientated. The men and women that I meet here place a greater emphasis on connecting with others relationally than making an appointment. While I come from a culture that has no problem saying "I have to go in order to make something else", here many would not only consider it rude but actually insulting. It is food for thought; where is relationships with people on our list of priorities. Is being there for a meeting really more important than this person who needs someone to talk to me? Maybe we should be more aware of our messages that we send in our words and actions, even if our culture says that such words and actions are fine. Culture is a hard thing to decipher, but just because it says something is right doesn't make it so. Maybe this is one area where we should be willing to scrape our plans for someone else.
I found it interesting that during training the new interns including myself were told if something does not go according to plan, that is normal. Do not get upset, do not get irritated, just move on think of something new, always have something to do as a second option and roll with the punch. I expect that I am going to learn how to roll well this summer. I look forward to it, even though with all that rolling I expect to become dizzy.