"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." ~e.e. Cummings

My Dad always had one thing to say to me..."just be yourself." There were years when that was tough because who I was acting like and who I wanted to be were two different people. So I had to work through the kinks.


My Mom always had one thing to say to me, too..."God go with you."
Between the two I finally figured out that I was made to be someone in particular. Now, I'm not saying I'm 100% happy with the quirks He's given me, but I can honestly say I am courageously growing up...to be myself as God goes with me.


Thanks, Mom & Dad ~ it's the best advice I've ever gotten.

~ Goal Setting ~

Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you? ~Fanny Brice

Monday, June 9, 2008

God's Plans vs. Our Dreams

Exodus 13: 17 (NIV)

17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt."


I will confess that I wonder at times what my life would be like if my path had taken me someplace else. Would I have the same sex and age of children? Would there be other similarities in my life? How would life really be different if (fill in the blank) had (or hadn't) happened? Well, this verse tells me I can wonder all I want but ultimately I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. How? "For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt."" God knew the Israelites better than the Israelites knew the Israelites. This says to me what Garth Brooks says oh so eloquently..."Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers." He truly knows the path of least resistance...and He knows how to get us where He wants us to go. Our job is to follow Him and trust His hand implicitly.

I wrote the portion above for my other blog: http://tbds.blogspot.com The thoughts have always ravaged me about how vastly different God's ways are than ours. How it seems He takes our dreams...the expectations of what we "know" we'll end up doing in our lives...and He switches them around to the opposite. For example, my best friend growing up knew ~ she KNEW ~ she'd graduate high school, maybe go to cosmetology school, get married and have a gaggle of kids. She absolutely had no doubts about it. I, on the other hand, knew that wherever I went in life it did NOT include a man or kids. Not that I didn't like men ~ ummmm, quite the opposite ~ but I never planned and dreamed of being a wife, and the idea of being a Mom as a career choice? Ludicrous! Sooooooooooooo, guess what God does? Hmmmmm....my friend will be 39 in August. She's never been married and has no kids. She's an upper management career gal with a large jewelry chain store. Yup. Me? I'm a wife and a mom. Give me a G! G! Give me an O! O! Give me a D! D! GOOOOOOO GOD!!! yeah, right.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound so cynical ~ I'm truly, honestly not. To meet my children you'd understand why I love being a Mom! To see my husband and I together, however, you may wonder why I didn't stick with my original plan...let's say we're working on that "dying to self" thing. *grin* Seriously, though, I can see God's crazy mixed up way of doing things. If we always had the easy way of life ~ always getting to do what we think we're good at and never having to learn a different way of life ~ why would we need Him? You see, I realized just this afternoon that God bound me to my husband in an answer to my prayer, "Lord, whatever You do, and wherever You take me...if You have a man in store or not...just never let me get too comfortable in my life that I don't need You." (or something very similar to that...I think it went more like, "when I meet the man You have chosen for me may he only make me want to know more of You in knowing him.") DUH!! Really?! What was I thinking!? It's like the prayers we pray for patience...knowing He will immediately put us in every situation we need to be in to PRACTICE patience! Or the prayers we pray saying "do whatever You need to do to get me fully in Your will...." and that night we end up pregnant because He knows we need to be slapped up alongside the head to get fully into His will. (okay, some of you may not end up pregnant...but I did.)

Tell me God doesn't know what He's doing when He gives us His Opposite Plan instead of our "But, Lord, You said You'd give me the desires of my heart" (whine...whine...snivel...snivel...gag) Plan! He puts us where He needs us to be ~ sometimes it's on the easy path because if we meet soldiers we'll turn back and run away from Him. Then there are the times when He knows we'll need some extra training for the future...or a little dose of compassion and understanding for those who don't think/act like we do...and BAM! We're on His opposite plan. Gotta love a God who never fails to suprise us...yeah, we really gotta.

**side note to those grammatical-nazi types who may read this...I truly wish to apoligize for the use of "....'s" and "gotta." I have had many a job as a proof-reader, and I know the immediate groans that fill my throat when I see such poor grammar. However, in my own personal blog that is not meant for publication, or even proper reading, I lay aside the grammar-busting red pencil and let it flow as it comes to my mind. Please accept my apologies for the number of times you have had to swallow hard to keep reading. Thank you.
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