I think one of the key components that makes "Christian" romance different from regular romance (other than the absence of obscenities and sex scenes) is that it ought to have some sort of moral to the story. At least, I feel like you should be able to see some sort of point to the whole story. I know it's not on the same level as fables or allegories, but I feel there should be some kind of emphasis that the writer is hoping the reader will pick up on.
Honestly, I'm not sure if I knew what I wanted to emphasize when I started writing "Best Laid Plans", but sometime during the process I was keenly aware of what my focus had become. To me, it's in the title - you can map your life out to the best of your ability, but sometimes God steps in and changes everything. Sometimes it's a pleasant change and sometimes it's a difficult change, but God has the right to do so and it always ends up being for the best, even when you can't see it at the moment.
In James there is a series of verses about how when we plan things out, without consulting God's will, it is a form of arrogance because our life is a vapor and we have no idea what is in store for us. "Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." (James 4:15) I don't think God wants us to wander aimlessly without any plans, but He wants us to realize that ultimately He has the authority and He knows our entire story where we can only see a small part.
This is not something that comes easily for me. I am a planner and when my plans change I tend to get angry or frustrated. Many times I freeze up and can't come up with an alternate solution - or won't come up with one. I need this reminder. I think we can also throw out a glib "Lord willing" when we mention our plans, but it almost becomes a superstition like knocking on wood. If you say "Lord willing" then God won't change your plans. I think it's important (again speaking to myself) to learn to say "if the Lord wills" and mean it!
I know it's not always easy to give up your plans. A few years ago my mom was going to turn fifty. The whole family was all going to go to Disneyland to celebrate, but a month before her birthday my mom was in a serious car accident. She was sore and shook up, but seemed all right. However, two weeks after the accident my mom went in for an MRI and they found that in the accident she had broken the vertebrae in her neck. Now we had already known that God had protected my mom in that accident. There were just too many odd things that happened that even the professionals couldn't explain. This one, though, showed us the extent of God's protection. The surgeon came in to talk to my parents and he told them that he had seen patients with half as much compression on their spinal column as she had that were permanently paralyzed and that she should have been paralyzed at the time of the accident. He had no explanation for why my mom could still walk! My mom needed surgery to relieve the compression and replace the damaged vertebrae. Our plans needed to change because my mom would have to spend her birthday recovering from her surgery and in a neck brace. It wasn't what we planned and it was not what any of us wanted. It was difficult, but in it all God showed His hand. My grandma wrote in my mom's birthday card that year "How does it feel to be a miracle?" My mom's answer? "Very humbling, because He had no reason to choose me." It isn't a time that we look back on with delight, but it was a time when we all became very aware that our God is not just a distant God who is unaware of our lives, but a God who is deeply involved with us and desires to be a very personal God.
I think God uses my writing to teach me and show me what I need to work on in my own life. Then if that also happens to be what someone else needs to hear then that's just an added blessing.
Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman
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