The Life We Had Planned

Have you ever read this quote before? I surely had not, until I was strolling through Trader Joe's one morning after work.  I found this card in the flower section where TJ's sells the loveliest of greeting cards.  They are printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink, yet they are still on 99 cents.  Amazing!

I purchase cards from TJ's frequently and put them up as decor in our kitchen and living room, or I stash them away until I find the perfect occasion to use it for.  I also frequently wander through the flower and card section when I need some Cristina time or just need a break from a demanding to-do list.  In any case, this one stopped me in my tracks and made me think for a good little while.

Has your life turned out the way that you always thought it would? Are you following your 5-year plan, walking on the path that has been so carefully planned and laid out for you?

My guess is that life turned out a little bit differently than what you always expected.  I can say, without question, that mine did.  Growing up, I was pretty confident that I was going to go to medical school and become a pediatrician.  I was going to get married later in life after finishing school and find a way to juggle being a career woman with raising a family and being a wife.

Instead, I married young (something I do not regret), work night shift as a bedside nurse, and am more excited about the thought of raising our future children than I am about pushing to get to the top of my career.  And I think about my life in light of this quote on a 99 cent Trader Joe's card, and I know for certain that the life that was waiting for me has been so much sweeter than the life I had planned.

I think that's God's promise to us through Scripture.  It's common for people to quote Jeremiah 29:11 when talking about their future, "'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 a hope and future.'" Maybe you think of those words as a cliché with how often you hear them recited,  except that they aren't a cliché at all.  They're words spoken by God, and they're his promise to you.  They're his promise that though things may seem uncertain, He already knows the life that is waiting for you.  Though you may be calculating and recalculating your 5-year plan and wondering how you can possibly make it all work, He knows your entire life plan and watches with delight as it unfolds before your eyes.

And every single time, it's better than what you would have planned for yourself.  That's difficult to see in the midst of heartache, sorrow, and unexpected challenges before you, but those promises are still there and still true despite the valleys you must walk through to reach the mountain tops.

My hope is that you'll loosen your grip on the reigns of your life a little bit, that you'll allow yourself to dream and to follow dreams without becoming hard and stubborn in the midst of pursuing those dreams.  I hope that you see new opportunities that aren't necessarily in "the plan" and that you'll be ok with trying them on the off-chance that those opportunities are entirely lovely and maybe exactly what you needed without evening realizing it at that moment.  Loosen your grip on the life you had planned and be open to the life that is waiting for you.  I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Love,
Cristina.