just the beginning...

My plan is just the beginning.

My plans are usually awesome, epic, perfectly laid out. And what usually happens?

They burn up, get twisted, go in the opposite direction. I always joke around saying that i always have back up plans because my Plan A never goes smoothly. Yea i get frustrated, yea i get anxious, a bit annoyed for the inconvenience but i easily find a way to replan quickly.

I think its safe to say we all want to live a great life filled with happiness and love. The plans we create in our heads, or write out on paper are just the beginning....the beginning of something greater.

When i have a super good day, that usually means that my plans went perfect (which does happen but is rare)...and i give myself all the credit. But stop for a moment. Isn't God in control of everything? Yes we do have free will, we have choices, but ultimately if we love Jesus, we long to serve him. Anyways...isn't our perfect plans just God's way of allowing us to see a visual of who He is?

He is in every aspect of our lives. Even my own daily plans and routines.

This year..nothing has gone according to plan. Like...my dream plan would have placed me in Chicago my first year out of high school, getting involved in city life and meeting so many awesome people. My dream plan did not have room for me to think of the possibility that i'd be staying another year..at home...with no community...no classmates...no city.

I know i have blogged about this a bit...the whole "living here in Fresno another year was not what i expected" but in this post i want to focus on the fact that in the midst of both my failed and successful plans, God was there, and i was able to see a different side of Him revealed :)

Looking back over this year, i still don't get why i got involved in jr high ministry, why i fell in love with my job, why i met and dated an amazing guy only to have to say goodbye to all those things. So much happened this year not according to my plan that was super good and i sit back overwhelmed. God allowed things to be "ruined" in order for me to learn, grow, and seek Him more. But he did use my laid out plan of getting a job easily, forming a new community, and growing closer with my sister as a way to show that he is FOR me, that He is in everything.

So you see....my plan is just the beginning. No matter how awesome it is. No matter what the end results may be. At the end of the day, God uses those plans for His glory no matter what He allows (if he "ruins" or lets my plans work out). I am thankful that God's got everything under control because i still do not understand what "seasonal friendships" mean to this day and i still don't get why he sometimes doesn't give a clear direction to me because im such a planner. He knows this about me.

Good one God...you are teaching me about trust, beginning with my plans that end up in your hands no matter what.