Expect the Unexpected
8 years ago where did you think you would be?
Better yet…
In eight years from this very instant where do you think you will be in life?
These questions have been boggling my mind the past couple of weeks. It’s like a ton of bricks were dropped on my head and now I am trying to “snap” out of it. Y’all, I’ll tell you in a million years I never thought I would be where I am now. I know eight years sounds a bit random but that time period was an important season in my life with God. Eight years ago I was a Freshman starting University (pretty sure I just hinted my age there-hah hah) and this is where I thought I would be in 8 years.
Be married by at least my Junior (3rd) year of University or engaged because “hey, don’t all believers do that when they go to a Christian University; isn’t that the norm?”
I would marry being a virgin.
Marry my high school sweetheart.
By now have popped out at least two kids.
Living in Israel with my high school sweetheart with our army of children doing archaeological digs (yeah I’ve got layers people).
Working on a PhD in Archaeology.
Here is reality.
NOPE. I married in 2013, after I graduated from University and had a stable BIG KID job.
It saddens me to say, but no I married not being a virgin. That was something hard I had to face when I did get married.
I married a wonderful man named Matt who I met in University while in an Economics class and I “stole” his scone the first time we were introduced(I did leave him stale cookies though ). Let’s just say we have a crazy love story but God was totally apart of it; which is awesome.
There is nothing cooking in this oven, so, no on the kids part.
I married a Canadian and now I live in Western Canada.
I work in interior/wedding design and am becoming involved in Women’s Ministry; which if you know me I have only been a part/felt called to Youth Ministry (YoungLife and WyldLife).
Did anything go as I planned in the order that I planned it? I think we can all literally see the answer to that and it is a straight up “no.”
Our stories are different but I think this rings true for all of us; there are roads that the Lord wants us to travel that follow with His plan for our lives but instead we sometimes go our own way and vice verse. But, the Lord (more recently) continually shows me how much my expectations in life are not always the best and can lead me down the wrong roads in life. And being a woman, I feel a lot of expectations from myself and the world around me daily. I really dislike to admit this but it makes me anxious and even sometimes jealous of others, because who doesn’t want to be perfect? It’s like women these days have to juggle it all: family, work, housework, looking decent in public all while pasting a smile on our faces like it’s a piece of cake? The list goes on and it’s unrealistic. Yet, I take these expectations that I have and try to accomplish them by myself all in one fell swoop; giving me the control instead of Jesus. (If you have not noticed I like to be in control and when life starts going sideways it can really screw me up.)
However, even with these unrealistic expectations Jesus is teaching me (on the daily) that I do not need to be perfect; because He is perfect for me. I have got to cut myself some slack and ladies you do too. We CANNOT be the hero in this story. We cannot get it all done and save the day because, there is already a hero who has done that for us and his name is Jesus. He took that burden and brought it to the cross so we would not have to carry it; whatever the “IT” maybe. What we expect in life can seem easy or terribly difficult; I’ve felt both in my short lifetime but Jesus keeps reminding me that He knows what has happened, what is going on, and what will go down in the future; that He will fulfill your expectations with something greater than you could imagine. It is a time to find thankfulness in the unseen and unexpected. But, this means we have to hand over that burden to Jesus when things do not go our way. It is super easy to “give it up” to God when everything is honkey dory but it’s through those difficult times (usually when our expectations do not come true) that God is trying to teach us something. I think 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says it well, “Be thankful in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you who belong to Jesus.”
Or if that did not tickle your fancy, one of my favorite verses is from Jeremiah 29: 11-12. It is super encouraging during those unexpected times in life but can give anyone hope knowing that God only has good plans for everyone’s future.
Remember that list I started off with? None of my expectations came true and I am so grateful for it. God transformed me into a different woman through my struggles and challenges (many I brought upon myself) and led me to where I needed to be. Embrace those seasons my friends because they are there for a reason (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). I do not think I would be the same woman I am today without God shaking up my expectations and turning them into something much more beautiful.
Captivatingly Yours (and you are too *wink face*),
Lena