I was 15 when my father, a career Marine, was nearing retirement and assigned a final duty station. A small pickup carried us across the Mojave Desert to Barstow CA. Every military base has a mission. This was a supply depot. At the edge of town was a train yard (aka Hump Yard), where military beans, bullets, and band-aids arrived or departed. On the first night, just as I was falling asleep, an explosive crash shattered the peace, followed by the screech of steel-on-steel that continued uninterrupted until punctuated by another great crash. Again and again, at random times throughout the night, the sequence repeated. Living next to the Hump Yard taught me how train cars are sorted and then coupled together and it’s where I learned the concept of “complex simplicity.” Complex because of the system of track switches, controlled by the yard boss in the switch tower, to guide selected cars to a specific line. Simplicity because a yard engine pushes cars up and over a constructed hump where gravity takes over, linking cars together with a mighty crash. Those random crashes continued night after night, but no longer had the same shock effect, and soon were barely noticeable.

It occurred to me that missionary life is one of complex simplicity. Missionaries often start the day with a plan that gets derailed before the coffee is made. Adjusting plans comes with the territory. We learn to acknowledge that God alone is the Yard-Boss in the Switch-Tower, knowing which switch to open or close, and guiding our efforts to the right track. Linking up with God’s plan may require a collision to firmly connect, but it is by far better to be placed on the right track than to find ourselves speeding off in a direction that, at some point, will require us to backtrack. Complex simplicity is a valuable concept to consider at the beginning of a new year.

The heart of man makes his plans, but God orders our steps. Proverbs 16:9