God Always Has A Plan...

So people always say, "God has a plan".  Sometimes we as humans get really discouraged and forget that God has a plan for us and we try to take things into our own hands.  I have tried hard for the past 4 months to rely on God, but I have taken things into my own hands.  I have doubted if I really wanted to be a Speech Therapist.  I have decided to just work at Chili's and live in Searcy for the next year.  I have decided to possibly work on going back to school to be a nurse.  Little did I know that MY God has a plan.  This morning I woke up to a phone call from Arkansas State University's Communication Science Disorder's Department Chair.  He called to offer me a spot in their graduate program starting June 1st!!!! I literally burst into tears and laughter.  I couldn't say yes and thank you fast enough!!! All day long I have thought about the plan that God had.  Back in November I turned down the chance to go to Africa this summer with Harding.  If I had been going there, I couldn't have said yes.  If I had gotten into ASU from the beginning instead of Harding I probably wouldn't have appreciated it as much because I wanted to go to Harding.  Also if I had gotten into graduate school from the beginning I wouldn't have appreciated it as much because I felt like it was what I deserved, not something God blessed me with.  Now I feel like it is one of the biggest blessings I have ever received.  Needless to say I have a lot of big changes coming up in the near future, but I am not afraid because God has a plan. JEREMIAH 29:11!!!

Life...

So my life has been a constant roller coaster of emotions.  I received the news the Friday before Harding's Spring Break that I did not get into their Graduate School for Speech Therapy.  Where does this leave me? I HAVE NO IDEA!!! I left the following Wednesday with 7 amazing people from my church back home in Wynne for the Bahamas.  We went to the island of Eleuthera to Rock Sound where our church supports a missionary named Lincoln Young.  Although this mission trip was like none other I had been on, I did learn a lot from it.  Lincoln is a man who has had a lot physically taken away from him, but when you sit down to have a conversation with him or pass him going down the street you would never know.  He always has this wonderful smile covering his face and always brightens your day with words of encouragement.  I have been watching Lincoln come to my church and since I was approximately 12 years old, but now that I am 22 I finally have a real relationship with him.  He taught me how to sincerely be happy in my happenings and how to always see the glass as half full.  Not only this, but he is a great example of what a servant of God should be.  After we all returned from the Bahamas it was time to makes a decision about my future.  Well here I sit two weeks later and have yet to make that BIG decision.  I had decided to pack up and move to Paragould...I just knew it was where I needed to be, but yesterday something changed.  I had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to stay put.  I just felt like if God wasn't really pushing me to go somewhere that maybe I needed to stay where I was until he made clear his next move for me.  That being said I began talking to Michelle (my baby sister) about living with me in Searcy again.  We started looking at rent houses today and I'm not sure where I'll go from here.  I enjoy the people I work with at Chili's in Searcy, although Chili's is not where I desire to work.  I want a job that can make a different in people's lives.  I do not see how contributing to the obesity of America is making a difference in people's lives, but it does pay the bills. So for now I feel like I am going to be still and know that God is in control.  As for a long term plan...I don't have one.  If you know me very well at all...I AM NOT GOOD WITH NOT HAVING A PLAN.  This is the biggest leap of faith I have EVER taken!!!  I am walking to the edge and jumping and with this jump I am trusting God to catch me.