To New Beginnings

Ten years ago if you were to ask me what I imagined my life to be like today, my answer was drastically different from the life I actually have. I thought that ten years after graduating high school that I would be living somewhere other than the United States and I would be the most ballin' backpacker photography missionary that was working for the most top-notch missions organization.

Obviously God had other plans. I never imagined I would get married, much less have children. I never imagined that if on the slightest chance that I did meet some guy that it would be in college. I never imagined I would be working with church plants in the United States. I never imagined that I would live in any state up north that wasn't New York. This was not the life I imagined. Obviously God had other plans.

I've had several missions teammates but none like Chris. I thought I was strong and patient and able to endure the unimaginable, and then I had children and realized how much I lack. I scoffed at those whose lives changed because they "settled" in college and never lived, and I discovered how judgmental I was because it's not an end but a beginning. I dreamed of international cultures that needed Christ and now one day I can take my family to experience and learn and grow besides just myself. I have made so many new friendships stateside because of the life I have now and not the one I had planned ten years ago.

This is not the life I imagined.

It's better.

Is there a time that you thought you knew EXACTLY what God was doing in your life, and you came to realize that you were trying to be in control instead of God? Have you let your insecurities and doubts of the unknown stop you from following God the way you know He is calling you to?

I am a living testament to following God through the unknown. I am not claiming, nor will I ever claim, that I am perfect or have it all together or that I have an inkling as to what I am doing and what's going to happen. What I am saying is that despite the obstacles and what you believe could lead to a better and more fulfilling life, God's plan is always better. You may not see it in a day, a week, a year or even ten years, BUT His plan for your life will ALWAYS be better than any life you could have imagined.