Plans

This weekend I spent time with Danielle, Martha and Kelly, three of my friends from high school.  It was so much fun to cheer on the Badgers, laugh and catch up.  There is something so comforting in spending time with people who knew me when I wore braces!  And it turns out, the ridiculous jokes from our band nerd days are still hilarious! 



D, Merta, and me!

Throughout the weekend my friends and I discussed all the ways we've changed since we were seniors in high school. This afternoon I've been thinking of all the twists and turns my life has taken in the six short years since graduation.  I am so thankful for all of the surprise endings, winding paths and lessons learned.  I've learned to appreciate life and not take everything so gosh darn seriously.  When I was 18, I could not have predicted what my life would look like at 25...

 

                   So why am I so concerned about what life will look like after Mercy Ships? 

 

As I make plans A, B, C, D and E regarding my job at UW and consider the impact that my time on Mercy Ships will have on my career, I am realizing that I cannot know what the future brings.  No matter how many plans I make or how precisely I've mapped out my future, life is going to change.  Plans change.  Maybe this time of uncertainty is good for me.  Over the years, I've learned the most about myself and God when my plans have been stripped from me. 

 

Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do."  I am reminded that God has created me to do specific work in the world.  Regardless of the amount of back-up plans I have, God's plan will be far more beautiful than mine.  I can't picture it, but I'm not supposed to.