Strange things are happening...

First of all, let me say WELCOME to my blog!  Somehow, probably thanks to the marvelous Pinterest, I now have double the followers I had a month ago, and none of you newbies do I know personally...so welcome to my family blog, and thanks for taking the time to follow and comment and all that jazz.  I'm in the middle of reorganizing my priorities and weaning myself off many of these internet wonders, so I'm sorry now if you get bored or if you feel ignored.  It's not on purpose.  I'm sure you're a lovely person.  :)

I had a strange thought today.  I wonder what it would be like to be one of those people who actually lives the life they planned for themselves.  I mean, of course we all have a hiccup or two along our respective roads, but I seem to live in a realm where "if you want to make God laugh, make plans."  Nothing--schooling, careers, family, health, hobbies, or otherwise--has gone anything remotely resembling according to my plans.  If you had told me as a teenager that I'd be 25 before I got my first kiss, 26 before I got married, or 27 before I graduated with my bachelor's degree (from PURDUE no less!), I'd have laughed in your face outright.  I'd never wait 'til I was that "old" to accomplish such major life goals!  If you had told me I'd struggle with a life-changing hip injury at 22 or infertility and thyroid issues before and during marriage, I never would have believed you.  That it would take me this long to find a job (still looking) with a 3.97 GPA and great work experience/references is so pathetic it's almost laughable.  Sometimes I take a look around at people and even though I know they have their own trials and bumps in the road, I envy their ability to set goals and actually achieve them without a huge mountain to climb along the way.  To say, "Okay, we want to get a job now," and actually do it in the field they studied, or to say, "I think it's time for a baby," and then just make it happen. That very idea completely boggles my mind.  If I have learned nothing else in these last 8-10 years, it's that I have no idea what's going on.

And that's okay.

I'm grateful for the faith I have in a loving Father in Heaven that sustains me along my climbing.  And I'm thankful that even though I have all these ideas about what I want for myself, *HE* knows even better what would make me happy and keep me progressing towards the woman He wants me to be.  I'm learning to be content with His plans for me and to be more flexible in my waiting.  I'm also learning how to wait *productively* and to prioritize even better so that He can work His miracles through me, in my own little sphere.  This doesn't mean I stop setting goals for myself, sometimes heartbreakingly difficult-to-achieve ones at that.  I have just accepted that this is the realm I'm in, at least for now.

It's not such a bad realm to be in.