Better plans than I could dream of...despite the difficult journey.

             It has been a roller coaster of a summer.  That’s the best way I can think of to describe it.  It’s had its extreme ups and downs.  But, I’ve seen God working through it ALL.  I cannot begin to explain to you how much He has revealed to me this summer about His faithfulness, love, and purpose/plans for my life. It’s been absolutely incredible, and if you knew the whole story, with all of the tiny details...you would see just what i'm talking about.  There has been sickness, death, and an enormous amount of fear.  But, there really is a peace that passes all understanding.  It’s always seemed like one of those stock Christian phrases.  But, it’s exactly what it says it is: a peace that can’t be understood, because it comes from God in the midst of complete worldly chaos and pain.

These past several months/years I have learned the incredible importance of listening to God and doing what He says.  It’s so easy to be used by God.  But when opportunities open up and it’s time to say “yes”, it suddenly gets difficult.  God has a plan and purpose for my life.  I’ve always “known” that, but I’ve never really understood it.  But now I can look back and see it.  I can see how certain circumstances led to opportunities, and how those opportunities led to blessings.  Everything just seems to tie together and make a lot of sense. The crazy thing is that it makes absolutely no sense when it’s happening, or yet to happen. But, it’s so awesome to know that trusting God each step of the way creates His master story for my life.   To be able to look back and recognize that, is incredibly rewarding!!  Every day is filled with SO MANY blessings.  We just don’t take enough time to recognize them.  It’s so much easier for worry and stress to invade our lives and flood our minds, than to allow God to guide our every step.  I am not at all saying that I’m perfect, because these are some of the very things I struggle with.  What I’m saying that is God has shown me what blessings come when I trust Him, and how everything has a purpose that’s part of a bigger story.  His plans are so much better than anything I could ever dream of, and I just feel full to overflowing with pure joy.  All of this may seem a bit cryptic or vague.  I just wish there was time to tell you details...because it really would point directly to the omnipotent, omniscient, awesome God we serve.