“The Ides of March” Series … Prompt #9 – “The face of tomorrow.”

I once looked to 2014 as the “it” year – when I would finally achieve my goals of becoming a teacher and graduating from college. Life, it seemed, would “begin” this year. Thankfully, God has taught me a lot about life happening in all seasons, not “starting” when certain events take place. But I can’t deny that – if all goes well – I have indeed reached the year of graduation and the end of my undergrad career. And suddenly, there’s a new question – what happens next?

From my perspective, the face of tomorrow is bright and shiny with possibilities. In my wildest hopes and dreams, this is the year that I’ll get a real teaching job [okay, or a real subbing job … ], move into my own place, make a house a home like I’ve always dreamed of, and step into the next phase of life. I’m not going to lie – I’m pretty stoked about the next phase of life. I can’t wait to do ministry at church, start saving money again to travel, go on missions trips, learn what it takes to have my own classroom, host so many friend-get-togethers at my own little place, learn how to run a household, and so much more.

But one thing I was reminded of this morning is that no matter what, I am ultimately not in charge of my tomorrows.

God is.

On the way to church, the song “Our God” by Chris Tomlin came on the radio, and from the opening lines … “Water You turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind …” I was taken back to three summers ago when that song defined a beautiful time in my life. And yet how differently things turned out than I thought they would!

You see, that was the summer that the CYT Expo was held in North Idaho, and I remember talking to Paul Russell about what it would take to be an artistic director. I had a dream – to become an artistic director and start a CYT somewhere. And that beautiful day when I talked to people who helped me see what it would take to accomplish that dream – and that night when my friends prayed for me in an empty parking lot & every song on the radio home was an affirmation to me of my hopes and dreams – I thought my future was clear. I thought I knew where God was taking me.

Funny thing about God, though … He’s always full of surprises. And it turns out that He did indeed have dreams in store for me with CYT – just not in the way I expected. Instead of going the artistic director route, He brought me to the position of National HYPE Director, which I came to find I might love even better [although I may still be a part of starting a CYT someday, you just never know!]. Instead of me moving away to take CYT to another city, I realized that I could stay here and still have a positive impact on cities all over the country. I did have exciting dreams – and I still do – but they ended up looking different than I had originally thought. God knew better, and His leading and guiding was perfect every step of the way.

So instead of me saying, “Yes, this is definitely what I’m going to do this year” – I’ve learned to be hopeful and project myself in the direction I believe God is leading. However, there is always a possibility every day when I wake up that that dream might end up differently than I first envisioned it – because God’s plans are far beyond my imagination and He wants to use me in specific ways. Who am I to disagree? From what I have seen and experienced, God can take a perfectly ordinary life and turn it upside down into extraordinary in very little time. I simply have to remain faithful and say, “Yes, Lord. Where you lead, I will go.”

I have a feeling that big changes are in store for me this year. And I’m sure I will be excited to share them with you all when they happen. But even I don’t know for sure what they will look like – I only have a vague hint of the picture that will soon come into focus. But that’s okay. Because right now, I need to relish dinners at home with my parents, the sound of my brother’s guitar-playing in the other room, student teaching with my favorite group of fourth-graders, and spring sleepovers with that group of 12 HYPE students I couldn’t possibly love more, yet I do all the time.

For as the face of today is molded, so shall the face of tomorrow gradually become.

And always may I remember:

“And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?
“And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?”