God's Plan Is So Much Better Than Mine

So two years ago I was registering for classes and I really wanted to take this linguistic class in the upcoming semester. It was really the only place it fit in my schedule and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get credits out of the way. However, I couldn't fit it into my schedule because it overlapped with a different course that I also need to take. I was freaking out because things weren't going they way I wanted them to, or the way I thought.

I kept trying to fit the class into my schedule, and it never really fit anywhere until this semester. This semester I was finally able to take the class. After signing up, I realized that this was the best semester that I could have taken the class, and God kept saying wait, until it was the appropriate time to take the class.

The biggest reason this is the right time is that i am taking the class with one of my roommates. It is fun in class, and we can share textbooks and help each other with the homework. It is lots of fun taking this class with her, especially because it is not always the most exciting subject.

When we wait on what God has planned for us, things work out for the better. And sure it can be hard and frustrating during the process of waiting, but it is worth it in the end.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for knowing what is best for us and not letting ourselves get caught up in the things we think is best. Please give me the strength to sit and wait patiently while you work things to my advantage. Amen. 

A Million Dreams

Over the break I saw the Greatest Showman with my family and I think that was the best movie that came out in December. The editing to the cinematography to the story, especially the story, was phenomenal. I remember sitting in the theater when the song, "A Million Dreams" came on and I sat there in awe of what was going on in the song as well as what was on the screen. I was like something was awoken with in me that had laid doormat for a long time.


That I went to bed, but I couldn't fall asleep because a million dreams were running through my head. A flood gate of all the crazy ideas that I had suppressed came flooding over me and I chased everyone of them all night long. It was a very freeing experience and it made me stop to think of why I had even suppressed them in the first place.


Than reality set in, dreams that are worth chasing are not easily achieved. It is easy to get discouraged right out of the gate with the task in front of you, and instead of facing it, we run away from it. We shut off our dreams so that we can stay safe, and stay where we know.


However, we serve a God that is full of creativity, and he has given each one of us some of that creativity and that comes out in the dreams that we have that we want to pursue. God doesn't want us to suppress the dreams we have for what is safe, for that does not allow a chance for us to grow. When we commit ourselves wholly to him and allow him to work through our dreams to shape us to his glory.


With this I am taking one of my crazy dreams and I am going to work this semester to make this a reality. The big idea is I am going to take the songs from The Greatest Showman and make a video for each song that shows the multiple talents at Dordt. It is a great idea in my head, but to make it a reality I need to assemble a team to help me plan and a team to help me shoot, as well as find actors to be in the videos, and then I have to edit them all together. It is a daunting task, but I am going to try and make this one a reality. I may fail, but at least I would have learned what not to do for the next time. I will keep you all posted on updates through this entire process because it will get interesting and stressful.


Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the creativity that you have given each of us. Help us to find our confidence in you as we dream up all these grand ideas of what we would like to accomplish. I pray for this project that I am about to start, for I pray that you place the right people in my life to help me reach this goal and that it turns out to be a fantastic product. Amen.

God of the Unexcpected

This Christmas season, one of the themes of the Christmas service at my church was that God is a God of the unexpected and how these traits are found in the Christmas story.

Now most Christians know and accept the Christmas story because we have heard it over and over again. However when the birth of Jesus did happen, it was very unexpected for the people of Israel. When they thought of the Messiah to come, they thought it would be a mighty king, one that would lead them to war to reclaim their land, yet the Messiah came in the form of a baby. That was unexpected for them. They couldn't believe that he would come in a form of a baby, for to them that was totally unexpected.

The thing is God didn't stop then doing the unexpected. Everyday he is doing the unexpected in our lives. The thing is we often don't see it as the unexpected blessing God has for us, but we see it as a hardship, or a curse, or another obstacle we have to overcome. Mary was not expecting to have the messiah, and it came at a bad time for her because she wasn't married and still a virgin, and if word got out, then she would be publicly disgraced. However this unexpected pregnancy was a blessing to her and to the entire world.

So when things turn out the way that you don't expect, do dismiss it as being bad, but wait and see what blessing God can bring you through this unexpected turn in your life.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for all the blessing you give me, the ones I expect and the ones that come out of nowhere. Help me to change my attitude when the unexpected falls on my life, for it may be a blessing in disguise. Amen.