A Little Reflection.

      If you had asked me a year ago if I was excited about going to college, I probably would've told you that "excited" is not the first word that comes to mind. 

Words more like 

nervous,

unsure,

scared,

discontent and unprepared 

for a new and strange change would've described how I was feeling about it all. College was going to be different and foreign from what I had always known and had come to love so dearly. A change like this intimidated me. From road life to college life; from an established community and best friends to unfamiliar faces; from knowing what to expect to having no idea how to even get to my classrooms; from life in a trailer and host homes to life in a dormitory. Living out of a dresser and not a suitcase? What?!

Change; it was indeed nerve racking.

BUT...

if you were to ask me now if I am excited about school, I would say yes. I would say more than yes. Words like 

 excited, 

thankful, 

blessed, 

thriving and moving 

 forward in a new and thrilling world would describe how I feel about it all. Only by God's surpassing grace can I say these things. College has been different but I have grown to love it. It's a lot of work and really hard, but it's definitely been worth it. And all those unfamiliar faces have since become dear friends of mine.

I'm learning that my fear of change is ultimately a lack of faith and a failure to trust my Heavenly Father. This doesn't mean I never miss what once was, because trust me, I still do. But it does mean that in His faithfulness, the Lord does not let me remain there but graciously teaches and corrects me in the difficult transitions of life. He knows and calls me to Himself. As I press into Him, I find joy. As I rest in Him, I find contentment. I've learned that sometimes God calls us to do things that require brokenness and bravery. But those kinds of callings are the best. 

And it's in obedience to those callings that we will come to know more of Him...
...so I have found.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with ALL your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile." 

-Jeremiah 29:11-14

And so I remember and recount the goodness of the Lord to me. 

He is indeed good, isn't He.