I keep coming back to Jeremiah 29:11-14. If you don't know what it says, here it is:




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 hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. [a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."



Ok, now about these plans. Ever since I was a little girl, there were two plans I had for myself. 1. Be a teacher, 2. Get married and have kids.



Well, plan 1 happened, 2, hasn't...yet. I haven't given up on that one yet, although there are days when I wonder...



ANYWAYS... being a teacher. I never looked past that. that was the ceiling for me. It was all I ever wanted. Even after college, I had no desire to go back and get my masters. And then one day, I did. And being a counselor has been MORE than I could have ever imagined. I LOVE my job (most days). I LOVE the kids I work with (most days), and for a while, I felt like I had finally found my calling.



And then, one day, there was a little nudge. I ignored it. The nudge became a stronger little pull...again, I ignored it. And one day, it came to me...a community center. Open a non-profit community center in the heart of TC. I didn't grow up in TC, I have no ties to TC, but for some reason, I feel led to plant myself there. Somehow, without my consent, TC planted itself in my heart. I had no idea HOW, or WHEN, or WHY, but I KNEW that it would happen one day. And then the plan came...at least on paper. The name, the set up, how it would work, what would be offered...it's all there, on a sheet of paper that somehow has withstood the test of time, and multiple passings of my mother's habit of throwing things away...it slipped to the back of my head, and then once again, I had a tiny nudge telling me to go back to school.



So, here I am...insanely working on this degree called a doctorate. I know it'll be worth it, but the past year has been CrAzY to say the least...again, didn't see this coming. But once again, I felt a nudge reminding me of that community center. STILL not sure how it would happen, STILL not sure it WOULD happen...and then one day, it came to me...I've been saying for years (at least 3) that my school needed an after school program. I've made phone calls, talked to people, who are ALL in agreement that it needs to happen, but no starting off point. Guess what?! That's how I get the community center. Start it off as an after school program....but the administrative part. I know NOTHING about that...



and then there was that dang nudge again..."you're not done yet...." was what I kept hearing..."I have MORE for you..." is what I kept hearing...and then, it came to me again..."get your midmanagement certification"....WHAT?! i HAVE NO FLIPPIN DESIRE TO BE AN AP OR A PRINCIPAL...ARE YOU ON CRACK GOD??? Apparently HE is smoking some holy weed or something (sorry if that offends anyone...) While i'm down here wondering what the HECK is going on with my life, He's up there, intertwining the fabric of my life...taking this thread and sewing it to that one, and slowly creating this masterpiece that I didn't anticipate.



And on top of it all, it all falls in line with my dissertation...and if all works out the way I pray it does, I'll get the funding for my afterschool program this year, to start it next year, to gather data for my research just in time for all my coursework to be finished!!!



I had this one plan for my life. He has taken that plan, smashed it in a billion pieces, and opened door number 2...saying, "THIS is my plan for you...if you'll let me, I'll show you the way..."



and here I am...very cautiously taking that step through that door. Again, I have NO idea where I'm going, but with GOD leading me, it can only be good!!!