The concept of a “planned” life is one of the greatest misconceptions we possess. That is certainly disquieting, but true. Many of us think we control our waking hours, but this belief is largely a practical illusion—one we allow ourselves to believe because we need it in order to get from one day to the next.
In reality, very little in our lives happens according to plan, and most unplanned events fall into four categories.
The first category of unplanned events goes largely unnoticed. We do not even process them as unplanned, because we build a certain amount of “unplannedness” into our day. For example, I went to a coffee shop this morning intending to order a vanilla latte, but since they were out of vanilla, I chose caramel instead. It hardly cost me a second’s thought.
The second category of life’s unplanned events requires more intentional adjustment, but still causes little distress. Your plan for dinner didn’t work out because the grocery store was out of that one item. Instead, you adjust your plan or grab some takeout.
The third category of unplanned events causes a more modest degree of angst. Your insurance premiums are going up (I feel you on that!), so you begrudgingly shop around and eventually land on something you can stomach—until next year, of course. You’re frustrated, and there may be short- or even long-term consequences or trade-offs, but they are not life-altering ones.
Our world is structured enough—broad enough—that most unplanned events in these first three categories get absorbed without too much difficulty.
Yet there is a fourth category of unplanned events that we all sometimes experience. This is an event or moment that feels more like the floor falling out from under our feet. We thought we were standing securely, only to find ourselves suddenly suspended in midair—our stomach in our throats, our hearts beating faster, our nervous systems in survival mode, and our sense of reality called into question. This includes the loss of a loved one, the loss of a career, a divorce, a major health diagnosis, a natural disaster, or a complete and total change in circumstances.
These unplanned events are not small enough to slip by unnoticed or to be casually “dealt with.” They call into question our identity, our values, and the overall orientation of our lives. If you have read this far, it is likely that your own memory has brought one or two of these life-changing moments to mind—or perhaps more accurately, to heart.
Nearly every single client we see at Assurance falls into this fourth category of the unplanned. They wake up one morning with their entire lives changed—and with a decision to make, not just about their own lives, but about the life they now carry. Many of the options advertised and readily available to them make a promise: “We will get your life back on plan. Just take this pill or have this simple procedure.” And yet, a growing body of research—not to mention a body of lived testimony—suggests that for most people, the decision to terminate a pregnancy alters the orientation of one’s life regardless. The question is not whether life will be reoriented, but whether that reorientation will be defined by the election of life or by its termination.
Of course, we at Assurance plan to come to work every day and to serve our clients. We plan to provide free pregnancy testing, free ultrasounds, free counseling, free material resources, and free connections to community services and support beyond our doors. But we do so knowing that our clients did not plan any of this. And many of us do so with firsthand knowledge of what it is like to have life-altering events place us on an entirely different path.
We are committed to standing in the gap between the planned and the unplanned. We can help clients navigate these moments in a life-affirming way, to the best of our ability—so that “unplanned” does not mean “without hope.” Furthermore, our goal is to help clients see that there is One who is the master at taking what is unplanned and making a plan out of it (Romans 8.28). After all, the plan for the salvation of the world came about through an unplanned pregnancy.
As we close out 2025—and simultaneously mark Assurance’s 40th anniversary as closed—would you plan to be a part of His plan for those who will face the unplanned in 2026, our forty-first year of mission? The fact is, neither you nor I nor the staff, clients, or volunteers of Assurance know much about what 2026 will entail. Despite our “planning,” we know there will be many unplanned events across all four of these categories for those connected to this ministry. Yet we also know this: He is the plan amid the unplanned, and we are called to share that truth with everyone who walks through our doors.
