Plan, plan, plan

I am a planner. I always have been, and although college has done a number on how much I plan/worry about planning, I believe that I always will be.

I was talking to my friend Sarah about this the other night. We like to plan. We like to know what we should do first, second, etc. and we like to know at the end of the day that our future is somewhat figured out. I don't believe that this is putting God in a box at all. I 100% believe that He created me to be a little more organized than my friends. I know that He uses my "plans" to tweak my future.
I believe this so much that I had it tattooed on my foot.

Yes I have a tattoo. On the instep of my right foot is a little footprint and the reference to Proverbs 16:9. This verse simply reads "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."
Over the past two years, this verse has helped me remember that it is all right for me to dream. It is ok for me to have hopes and ambitions and to pursue them. It is fine if I make plans for myself....

...as long as I write in pencil.

Because the other thing that my tattoo reminds me is that the Lord is still in TOTAL CONTROL of my steps. He directs my life. I can go ahead and pick my "end points" but that doesn't mean that I will arrive there as I had planned, or that I'll arrive at them at all.

If you had asked me a year ago what my plans were after graduation, it would have gone a little something like this:
"Well I don't really know where I'm going to go or what I'm going to do but I really want to teach English as a Second Language and maybe travel during the summer."

Little did I know that I'd be teaching English in Honduras and that my "travel in the summer" would be traveling back home to visit my family and friends here! I never would have chosen this specific path for my life because I wasn't opening my eyes to that possibility. That's why it's so much better for the Lord to be in control of my life...He can see the big picture!

It is comforting to know that the Lord is looking out for me and my plans. He gives me the freedom to dream and hope and wish and plan, but in the end He watches over my steps and directs my feet and my heart. And I put all my trust in Him because He promises that His plan for our lives is so much better than anything that we could plan for ourselves.

"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."
-Jeremiah 29:11