Am I the only one that has ever planned their life out in their head? (I know I can’t possibly be) I used to know exactly what I wanted to do and be in life…until it changed of course. Then I was 100% sure that the new plan was what I was DEFinitely going to be.
Somewhere along the line, I realized that my plans for my life had little to do with what happened. My choices of course did but life was going to happen and not everything was going to go as planned just because I wanted it to. At some time I decided that it was in my best interest to place my wants and desires in God’s hands and submit myself to what HE wanted more than what I wanted.
Sounds easy right? I wish.
I did an ok job most of the time and then I would take things into my own hands, make a mess of it, and then come crawling back to God repentant and hopeful that some how some way He could make things ok again if not better than ok.
It was at one of these times in life, when I felt that I would never get my life together, when I could never be anything, never do the right thing to stop spinning my wheels spiritually and just in life in general that a sweet girl handed me a simple card.
I have always wanted to make something of my life, myself, and help others, encourage others, love everyone around me. At the time however, that is completely opposite of what I felt, but very few, if any, people knew that.
So this card, I may never know what inspired the writer to write it, and thats ok. As far as I am concerned it was a letter straight from God via a sweet, loving, bubbly ray of sunshine.
In short, the letter within the card expressed how much the writer looked up to me, appreciated me, and was encouraged by the example I set for girls like her.
Close to or more than a decade later, thinking of that letter still has the same effect on me as it is having this moment. It always brings tears to my eyes. It was also a turning point in my life that the writer never may have guessed.
That moment, God used the letter and my circumstances to show me several things.
- Life doesn’t always go as planned…and sometimes that is ok.
- The way we feel about ourselves does not determine our value, God does.
- Just because we feel like the wheels of life are spinning does not mean God doesn’t have something in the works.
- We will never know how many people we are an inspiration too. But we are. Everyone has people that are watching them, looking up to them, following them. It is our job to be the best we can be so that those watching and following will be the best they can be as well.
- (Maybe the most important) Even when we feel we have let the world, God, and everyone around us down, we can rise again, we can lift our heads, take the hand of help God is offering, trust Him, and walk away from our mistakes head high, lesson learned, ready to conquer the world.
All from a moment…brought my a “simple” sweet letter, written my a girl who had no idea her words would make an impact on the reader the way that they did.
No matter where life is taking us, whether it is what we had in mind or not, there is always going to be life and discouragement in the same day, maybe the same moment. It is our choice whether we choose to get hung up on the discouragement or let it help us grow and better ourselves so that we can focus on the life happening around us and enjoy every moment to its fullest.
Michael & Abigail-
I can not say how much I enjoyed this session the evening with you both and your sweet family! Baby Sparrow was an absolute JOY and did FABULOUS. He and I became friends very quickly and I am so glad!! Y’all were of course fabulous as well!
I hope and pray that the path that leads you both from this time in life will always be one of joy and love for each other, this sweet baby boy, and any other siblings that may be destined to follow.
Chances are there will be a few bumps in the road (as there always are) but never forget that You’re not in this alone. Love may not be the answer to all things as some songs suggest, but it surely can cover a multitude of things and strengthen any situation as a reminder of what really matters. No matter what, keep your heads up, your knees bent in prayer, and the love between you strong.
You guys are fabulous! I can’t wait to see where life leads you and I hope that I will get to be a fly on the wall as God guides you both to the journey and adventure He has planned for you.
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