Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts

Little Surprises


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If there is one post that is consistently discussed throughout my many years of blogging, it would be about God's plan for my life and what I think my plan is. I'm constantly amazed that usually the path I think I should follow or the job I believe I should apply for is usually all my planning and not His. Sure, I'll pray a bit about it and say I trust He's got it but really, at my core, I'm running alone. 

But He never lets that happen for too long. 
He's really good at dropping little surprises and reminders along the way. 
God is kind of the best gift giver in that way. 

One of the first times He did this in my life for grad school. I busted my butt to apply, ensured I was doing everything right, getting good grades, working in labs etc. and yet when it came time to hear if I got in anywhere, I was wait listed or rejected. Ouch. 

So I waited. I put it into God's hands. I had a good few weeks of acceptance that maybe Speech wasn't in the cards for me and I lived my life. Honestly, I began living my life for the first time since graduating (so December) in about mid March. That's a long time of being anxious and mentally consumed. Not proud of that. 

But then God surprised me with my acceptance to Pacific. And it's been a perfect adventure ever since. I love this school and this program. Good luck to all the people that come up to me at the ASHA convention in November asking about Pacific because I can sing its praises for a while. 

Then, just recently, He surprised me again. 

I've wanted to be a medical SLP since high school and while I've said, "I'm open for anything!" my heart has always been sold on medical settings. Now it's true I don't have one set medical setting in mind, but I do know I want it to be medical. So when I got placed in a school setting for Fall, I wasn't too surprised as I expected it, but I was still a bit bummed. Determined to make the best of it, yes, but bummed regardless. 

Then I got an email this week notifying me of the unicorn of all medical placements in pediatric inpatient at the children's hospital in the area. I squealed and literally jumped with joy and have not been this excited about something since getting into grad school. It's going to be extremely hard and sad but I can't wait to work under my supervisor and learn more than I could ever hope for. 

But this is what God does! He takes our dreams, our hopes, and turns them into something greater than we could have ever cooked up! He knows us no matter how hard we try to be mysterious. 

So I feel a general peace about my final year of grad school (holy smokes!!). I don't know what the next 6 months hold or lordy, the next 12 but that's ok. And I mean that honestly. I actually feel confident that whatever I get or wherever I go, God will have a hand in it and move me further down my path. 

Has he done this with you? This kind of gift of something better than you could have ever imagined? Or maybe it was a really hard decision but led you to where you are now and the now is so much better? I want to know!

What I'm Working on in 2016

Holy smokes that is weird to write. It's 2016! 
I love the idea of having a word to go back to and help guide me as I experience this new year. But because I couldn't choose just one (classic) I decided on two! 
Let's break 'em down!

Faith.
For 2016 I want to grow stronger in my faith and learn more about what I believe to be true. My church is doing a year of biblical literacy and I am joining them in reading the bible in a year. I want to journal more, spend more time in stillness with God, and ultimately be able to stand behind my faith more and more. I want to be able to lean on my faith when times become uncertain (which happens often) and I start to think more worldly. I'm excited to push myself and be more diligent in my faith life.

 
#truth. 
This is something I really struggle with and I always look towards the thing that I don't have instead of reflecting on all the things I am incredibly blessed with. I want to actively push myself to seek out contentment and enjoy this amazing life that I get to live and stop constantly searching for more. It's good to push ourselves but it's not good to look past all of the great things in our life and always check the other side of the fence to see what you could have. Because honestly, the people on the other side of the fence probably think they are lacking too, just in a different way. 



I want to keep going back to these words and at this time next year, be able to reflect on what an amazing year it was and how much I grew. And that's ultimately why I keep this blog! This little blog is my ultimate accountability partner and it sure does a good job at reminding me of my strengths and weaknesses. :)

I'm excited for this year! Are you?