Growing up, there was a path set out for me: Work hard at school, do well at the things that have been set before you, go to university, start a career, get married, have kids, keep working hard and continue doing well at the things that have been set before you. The path looks like a dream — the perfect Plan A — and why wouldn’t I want to pursue it? So I tried.
But God had a different idea. Little by little, the dream got sidetracked. For health reasons, the kids part had to come earlier than planned. The career part was an amalgam of valuable but scattered experiences with no predictable trajectory. We moved away from our family and our support systems. It all seemed messy and uncertain. It was not the orderly life I had imagined.
God stretched me a little bit at a time. A temporary detour in this direction, away from Plan A. Then a bigger step in another direction, even farther from that path. Each time we said yes to a small leap, God responded with tangible affirmations. He showed us in small and big ways what He can do when we follow His call. “I have written your story and it is good,” He said through those circumstances.
“Follow your dreams.” We’ve heard it a million times; we say it to our kids. There is a similar tenet that goes, “Leap, and the net will appear.” When the leaps I take are my own idea, however, that net is not guaranteed. But when the leap is God’s idea, He is the net. And He is infallible. He has never disappointed me. He has never failed me. He has always been faithful. His unfathomable plan for us is far richer and far more fulfilling than my dreams ever were.
As a parent, Plan A looks like what I want for my children. It’s safe and reasonable. But what if God has something different in store for them? Am I OK with that? The fact is I have no say in the matter. He enables me to be confident in who He has called them to be, and trust that they will hear that call and pursue it. It might look risky and foolish to me or to the world, but that is what true wellness looks like.
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. – Eph. 2:10
True Wellness to me means being confident in who God has called me to be. It might look foolish from the outside, but in Him, I am a new creation so that I can do the things He has planned for me long ago. His masterpiece is a great choreographed work, and He wants me to carry out my unique part. To see it play out within my family and within the body of Christ is witnessing the greatest piece of art I’ve ever known. I am well when I commit to following His call on my life, not my own created dreams.
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This is a beautiful post, Andrea. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Such wisdom in this article. True faith and humility lived out. Thank you.