Lesson(s) Learned

The roadless journey Most roads take us on fairly predictable journeys. But what about the journeys that take us off-road and come at us as a surprise? Does it all have purposeful design in each and every step of the way? Some days I readily accept and believe that they do. On other days, I tend to doubt it. Thoughts like these and many others have run rampant through my mind since the moment my fiancé found out for sure he'd be on 400 day orders with the US Army and deployed back in November. I'm often nudged/reminded of very small, yet very significant pieces of truth along the way. Things like where the Bible says, "A man plans his ways, but his steps are ordered of The Lord." Oh. So. True. Even when we don't know the details or the details are ever-changing, God knows the plan from beginning to the ending. As one of my all-time favorite speakers/authors Priscilla Shirer once said, "Everything that comes into our lives passes through the fingertips...

Over the past couple of days, I’ve experienced some not-so-fun events of life in both professional and personal realms. These circumstances and situations have taken me back, made me pause, and definitely made me think, over-think, and think some more. Overall, they’ve bothered me more than they should’ve for the wrong reasons, and not bothered me enough for the right reasons. I know I’m being vague here – that’s part of the point.  Because, really, these situations – they’re not about me.  There’s a much bigger principle and lesson to learn for all of us here. Throughout it all this week, I’ve come to the grips why these things have bothered me so. Each of these situations has attacked me at a point of my great weakness – they have threatened to take away the things I love the most. Put another way, they have pinpointed some of my personal fears . Some may be able to relate and say God is using this for His glory and just getting my attention and heart’s focus ba...