Surprises

I hope you have had the chance to experience those conversations in life that while they are taking place you are able to think to yourself, "Man, I'm going to remember this one for a while!" One of these such conversations took place for me in June 2010. My senior year of high school I was blessed with the chance to take a graduation trip that summer backpacking through Europe for two weeks. I learned so much about myself in that amount of time and saw and experienced some incredible things. During the course of those two weeks I had some really awesome conversation about life with many of the people I traveled with, but the one that I perhaps remember most occurred in Florence, Italy. It was a night when my group had gone to dinner at Ristorante del Fragidi. An incredibly tasty place where life pretty much just stops and dinner is more of a social component and time to spend investing with others rather than a need to consume food. In simpler terms, that was the longest, but one of the most enjoyable dinners of my life. At the end of a three plus hour meal we were talking over dessert and coffee about the future and our plans. It was then, that one of our chaperones, Coach George, spoke of how we really couldn't anticipate too far into the future because when we looked back to our lives in 2008, none of us would have ever guessed that we would be traveling through Europe two years into the future. So really, it was no realistic to focus on the future all too much because it's always likely to change. He said, "We can only guess where we will each be two years from now."

Well, roughly two years exactly to that night in Florence I will be in St. Louis de Nord, Haiti. And believe me, if you had allowed me 25 guesses of where I would have been two years from that moment in Italy not one of those would have been even remotely come close to: working with awesome kids with special needs in Northwest Haiti as an intern and showing them and the people of Northwest Haiti the love of Jesus Christ. Not even close.

But that's life. And life is full of surprises. But fortunately for all of us, while the future may come as a surprise to us, none of it is a surprise to God. This last semester has been completely full of surprises from before it even began. Things took place in my life that I never would have expected. Starting with my friend Caleb who as in a ski accident in January. That was something none of us could have ever prepared for, but His glory has been evident throughout all of Caleb's recovery. It was also a surprise to me as a cochair to see all the things that unfolded within our camp this semester. I never would have guessed the amount of growth that I've experienced or the challenges I faced with my partner this semester. I never could have imagined how much work would be put into it, yet also the incredible ways that the Lord worked through 18 college students in 4 months and is still continuing to do so. I was thrown off guard at the Lord's constant call for me to be single and focus on Him this summer even though it was one of the most difficult things I've ever faced in being obedient to Him. I would have never assumed the amount of community and friends He has blessed me with in college, but upon realizing this, I've felt so encouraged. And getting a phone call on Friday that one of my best friends since I was seven and current roommate in college had flipped her car 4 times on her drive home to Georgetown also came as a shock and surprise. Yet, it was in His plan to keep her safe and allow her to continue to recover in the hospital in order to be a huge blessing and light to both the doctors and nurses on her floor, but also to her family and friends as well. I love you Mack!

I know it's easy to forget, especially in the worst of times, but He has got this. As I texted a friend right after Mackenzie's accident I was told "Just remember NOTHING surprises Him. He is sovereign over it all". There are many days in life that I have to be reminded of this. Even though it may come as a surprise to me, He has had this in line from the start. From the beginning of time.

So many of us say that we love to be surprised, but really we only love to be caught by surprise when the outcome is positive. And if you really look at it, all of life is a surprise because none of us knows what tomorrow holds or how any of this is ultimately going to unfold. And you know, that's okay with me. I am twenty years old and I DO NOT want to know what I'll be doing when I am 65 because half the fun is going to be the journey getting there and I know the Lord is going to have some crazy things in store for me. Because I've found that what God has in store for me (good or bad) is going to unfold whether I want it to or not and ultimately going to work out far better than I could have ever expected. So there's no point in planning out my life two years in advance. For, I know that even if given 25 more guess, I wouldn't get it right.

So as I have certainly witnessed from my good friend Mackenzie this week, it's not about getting to where you think God is calling you to be, but about glorifying Him in whatever circumstance you are in as you get there. No matter if that's from a hospital bed with a collar around your next and a chest tube with a smile on your face as you treat your doctors and nurses with such love and hospitality that all your visitors hear from half a dozen of the hospital staff on how sweet you are or the middle of Haiti or where ever else this summer may find you. Because where this summer is exactly where He has called you to be and precisely in His plan. No matter if that's a surprise to you or not. It's no surprise to Him.

I know my time in Haiti this summer is going to be full of loads of surprises and things I will never anticipate. I just pray that I can continually be flexible for what He has in store and faith to know that whatever happens, He's got this and His plan is far better than what I've got. With roughly 3 weeks until I leave for Haiti I can not wait to witness all the surprises He has in store for me!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11