"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand."
-Proverbs 19:21
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all
your ways acknowldge Him and He will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6
"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way,
walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."
-Isaiah 30:21
In the years leading up to the long anticipated day of graduating from high school and finally heading off to
college, I went through numerous life plans. Originally, I was headed for
physical therapy. I was excited and thought it would be great. Once I decided,
however, that I didn't want to go to PT school, I decided on athletic training
as the closest alternative, and was ready to jump in there. After further
consideration, I realized that nursing would be more practical and give me more
options and job opportunities. So nursing it was. I applied very early on and
was accepted to the Clemson nursing program. About a week before submitting my
USC application, I had what I called my "mid-life crisis." I decided that I was
going to change my major I was applying for from nursing to something in a
non-science field. I had begun to feel that God was really changing my mind and
heart about what I felt that I was gifted at, and that I had writing and
communication skills that I should not put to waste. Not to mention the fact
that I was enjoying science and math less and less every year.
So, I entered USC as a public relations major. A year before I didn't even know what public relations was. Only a couple months after beginning college, at the Navigators fall conference, God began to
lay on my heart the calling to something else. The problem was, I didn't know
what that something was. All I knew was that God was completely changing my
life plans. But strangely, I was ok with it. On the car ride home from the
conference, I did a lot of thinking and praying. Even though I had suddenly, in
one weekend, decided to completely change my career path to something that I did
not yet know what it would be, I had more peace about things than I ever had
before. I was learning to put my complete trust in God's plan rather than my
own, and realized that he would continue to show me what I needed to know, when
I needed to know it. I began to realize that there may be a reason that Psalm
119:105 is worded the way it is: "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my
path." This verse does not say that God will illuminate the entirety of your
path. It simply says that God's word is a lamp for your feet--this implies that
the majority of the path may remain shrouded in darkness, but that the place
where you need to walk will be illuminated. Similarly, a line in the song "His
Love Can Never Fail" reads, "I may not know the way to go but oh I know my
Guide." If we are diving deeper into our knowledge of God, that is what will
guide us in our lives and show us the paths to take.
So, I came back to school knowing that I would change my major, but not yet knowing what I would change it to. All I knew was that God had a bigger plan for my life than I had for myself, and I was ready to
walk in it. Throughout that semester, I went through many different ideas of
how to get where I wanted to go, but I knew that ultimately, God was calling me
into ministry--specifically youth counseling.
Along the way, however, God brought Jared, who is heading into pastoral ministries, into my life first as my boyfriend, and then as my fiance. God continued to show me the opportunities that were before
me. Finally, I realized that my time at USC was coming to a close, and that
what I needed was elsewhere. So I began the application process to Columbia
International University, and, Lord willing, will be beginning there in the fall
to receive a Bible degree and be able to focus on youth
ministry.
I'll be honest--I did not see any of this coming. If someone had told me that I would be married at the end of my first year of college, that I would be enrolling at a Christian college, and
that I would be preparing to be a pastor's wife, I would have either laughed, or
just quit right on the spot. While I was never opposed to marrying young, I
wasn't expecting it to be this young. I also never wanted to go to a Christian
college. I had some legitimate and some not so legitimate reasons, but I always
saw myself being at a large, public university. And, the most important, I was
NEVER going to be a pastor's wife. I had decided it. My mom always made
comments about me finding a boy who was going to seminary, but I fought it with
all I had. That was not the life I wanted, because honestly, I was scared to
death to be under that much scrutiny. So, I was determined to go to a large
university, planning to marry at a typical age, and to marry a doctor or a
lawyer or something that was not a pastor. My goal was to live a normal life,
simply blending in with everyone else.
Well...today, I am preparing to be married 5 days after turning 19, I am transferring to a Christian school with
about 600 undergrad students, and I am marrying a man who is planning to become
a pastor. And I have to say, I am so incredibly happy that my plans were not
God's plans. I have finally begun to understand the attitude that I believe one
should have when making plans. Living in a way that is completely dependent on
God, and always going back to His Word to give light to your path. While the
plans I am walking in are not what I had planned, I have never felt such peace
as I do right now. Sometimes I'm scared. Sometimes I wonder if I'm right. But
what I can rest in knowing that God is always right. And his plans cannot be
thwarted. So my job is to simply dedicate myself to my guide, and continue to
take one step at a time in the light that His Word casts on my path. And I can
look back at everywhere that I have been and know that it was what brought me to
where I am today. Even though I seemed to fly through numerous plans, never
seeming to settle anywhere, God had a plan He was bringing about through it all.
I know that everything that happens, God works for my good (Romans 8:28). So
even when you do not know where you're going, where God is taking you, or even
when it seems that your life plans are changing daily, you can rest in the
knowledge and assurance that there is a plan. There is a divine method to God's
seeming madness in each of our lives. And we can devote ourselves to knowing
our guide more and more every day, and through that, walking in the plans He has
for us.
In the wise words of Steve Carell in Dan in Real Life: "Instead of telling our young people to make plans, we should tell them to plan to be surprised."
-Proverbs 19:21
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all
your ways acknowldge Him and He will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6
"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way,
walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."
-Isaiah 30:21
In the years leading up to the long anticipated day of graduating from high school and finally heading off to
college, I went through numerous life plans. Originally, I was headed for
physical therapy. I was excited and thought it would be great. Once I decided,
however, that I didn't want to go to PT school, I decided on athletic training
as the closest alternative, and was ready to jump in there. After further
consideration, I realized that nursing would be more practical and give me more
options and job opportunities. So nursing it was. I applied very early on and
was accepted to the Clemson nursing program. About a week before submitting my
USC application, I had what I called my "mid-life crisis." I decided that I was
going to change my major I was applying for from nursing to something in a
non-science field. I had begun to feel that God was really changing my mind and
heart about what I felt that I was gifted at, and that I had writing and
communication skills that I should not put to waste. Not to mention the fact
that I was enjoying science and math less and less every year.
So, I entered USC as a public relations major. A year before I didn't even know what public relations was. Only a couple months after beginning college, at the Navigators fall conference, God began to
lay on my heart the calling to something else. The problem was, I didn't know
what that something was. All I knew was that God was completely changing my
life plans. But strangely, I was ok with it. On the car ride home from the
conference, I did a lot of thinking and praying. Even though I had suddenly, in
one weekend, decided to completely change my career path to something that I did
not yet know what it would be, I had more peace about things than I ever had
before. I was learning to put my complete trust in God's plan rather than my
own, and realized that he would continue to show me what I needed to know, when
I needed to know it. I began to realize that there may be a reason that Psalm
119:105 is worded the way it is: "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my
path." This verse does not say that God will illuminate the entirety of your
path. It simply says that God's word is a lamp for your feet--this implies that
the majority of the path may remain shrouded in darkness, but that the place
where you need to walk will be illuminated. Similarly, a line in the song "His
Love Can Never Fail" reads, "I may not know the way to go but oh I know my
Guide." If we are diving deeper into our knowledge of God, that is what will
guide us in our lives and show us the paths to take.
So, I came back to school knowing that I would change my major, but not yet knowing what I would change it to. All I knew was that God had a bigger plan for my life than I had for myself, and I was ready to
walk in it. Throughout that semester, I went through many different ideas of
how to get where I wanted to go, but I knew that ultimately, God was calling me
into ministry--specifically youth counseling.
Along the way, however, God brought Jared, who is heading into pastoral ministries, into my life first as my boyfriend, and then as my fiance. God continued to show me the opportunities that were before
me. Finally, I realized that my time at USC was coming to a close, and that
what I needed was elsewhere. So I began the application process to Columbia
International University, and, Lord willing, will be beginning there in the fall
to receive a Bible degree and be able to focus on youth
ministry.
I'll be honest--I did not see any of this coming. If someone had told me that I would be married at the end of my first year of college, that I would be enrolling at a Christian college, and
that I would be preparing to be a pastor's wife, I would have either laughed, or
just quit right on the spot. While I was never opposed to marrying young, I
wasn't expecting it to be this young. I also never wanted to go to a Christian
college. I had some legitimate and some not so legitimate reasons, but I always
saw myself being at a large, public university. And, the most important, I was
NEVER going to be a pastor's wife. I had decided it. My mom always made
comments about me finding a boy who was going to seminary, but I fought it with
all I had. That was not the life I wanted, because honestly, I was scared to
death to be under that much scrutiny. So, I was determined to go to a large
university, planning to marry at a typical age, and to marry a doctor or a
lawyer or something that was not a pastor. My goal was to live a normal life,
simply blending in with everyone else.
Well...today, I am preparing to be married 5 days after turning 19, I am transferring to a Christian school with
about 600 undergrad students, and I am marrying a man who is planning to become
a pastor. And I have to say, I am so incredibly happy that my plans were not
God's plans. I have finally begun to understand the attitude that I believe one
should have when making plans. Living in a way that is completely dependent on
God, and always going back to His Word to give light to your path. While the
plans I am walking in are not what I had planned, I have never felt such peace
as I do right now. Sometimes I'm scared. Sometimes I wonder if I'm right. But
what I can rest in knowing that God is always right. And his plans cannot be
thwarted. So my job is to simply dedicate myself to my guide, and continue to
take one step at a time in the light that His Word casts on my path. And I can
look back at everywhere that I have been and know that it was what brought me to
where I am today. Even though I seemed to fly through numerous plans, never
seeming to settle anywhere, God had a plan He was bringing about through it all.
I know that everything that happens, God works for my good (Romans 8:28). So
even when you do not know where you're going, where God is taking you, or even
when it seems that your life plans are changing daily, you can rest in the
knowledge and assurance that there is a plan. There is a divine method to God's
seeming madness in each of our lives. And we can devote ourselves to knowing
our guide more and more every day, and through that, walking in the plans He has
for us.
In the wise words of Steve Carell in Dan in Real Life: "Instead of telling our young people to make plans, we should tell them to plan to be surprised."
RSS Feed