Expectant

I tend to be the kind of person that comes up with grand scenarios in my head. I talk in the shower and practice conversations that I am going to have later in the week (I know, I'm super weird). Or, I plan out exactly how things are going to go throughout the day as I leave the driveway; yikes, do I tend to miss the mark. Half the time, things don't go as planned, the boy does give me that compliment I dreamed up, a conversation doesn't go as I thought it would, or I hit a speed bump in the schedule I had planned. Has this happened to you before?

That's life, I guess. Sometimes things go as planned, and sometimes they don't. We all saw that in 2020.

As for this year, I am expectant. As 2022 officially winds down, I find myself becoming more and more excited about what God has planned for 2023. 

As I think about this new year, all the plans I have, and the things that I think are set in stone, I can't help but think that God is laughing (lovingly) as a father does when his kids are guessing what their Christmas presents might be. He laughs, knowing that they'll never be able to guess what's inside the beautifully wrapped packages underneath the tree. 

He is writing every single one of our stories, the chapters are already set in place, and the highs and lows have already been marked ahead of us. He is just waiting for us to reach them.

I've been praying a lot for this coming year. These past few months, I've been praying, "Lord, don't let me rush your promises or miss out on anything that you have planned." That is my prayer for this coming year as well. "Lord, let me not miss out on a single thing that you have planned for me. Because I know that you have so much more for me than I could ever ask, think, or imagine." (Ephesians 3:20)

So that is my prayer for you, dear reader, that you don't miss a single thing that God has for you. 

That we're expectant and excited about what God has in store.That we don't get so busy that we miss that conversation with someone in the grocery store. That we don't miss out on that few minutes of prayer in the morning because we want to go to the Starbucks drive-through so badly. And that we listen to the Holy Spirit when it tells us to do something that might not seem easy at the time. Because I know this to be true; that no matter how well we think we know the story, His chapters are so much better than ours. He'll blow our minds and challenge us all in the same breath. Loving us as only he can and helping us become more like his son in the process.

"Lord, you see the desires of our hearts. Make our desires be in aligned with yours, and let us walk in the plans that you have for us. We love you and trust you. Amen"