Plans.

Plans. We all make them... Sometimes without even realizing it. Before you know it, you have what you think the next 5 years of your life should look like in your head. As for me? Guilty as charged. I crave to plan. I have a weekly to do list that is filled up every single day. So much to accomplish, and I sure do feel pretty good about myself when I got done what I planned to. And why? Cause i get the glory. I do it in MY strength. But when I wake up in the morning, do I surrender my time to God and ask him to direct my day? No. I'm more consumed with the first thing on my list. Maybe God has far greater ways he wants me to spend my time... if I would only listen. Maybe instead of being in a rush all the time, He wants me to sit in my room and spend time with him... If i would only slow down. Realizing this has opened up way more lessons to be learned than I expected. Here's my story.  I'm 18. I'm young, but this time in my life is pretty huge. God walked me through high school and allowed me to find who I am as he placed desires in me for ministry. So now, it's figuring out how to put these things into practice...how to make the future possible. More so, WHERE. It's been quite the journey thus far. Only God knows how many prayers He received from me about college. One unexpected morning, I thought I had it. Bible college in Spain for 2 years. I knew I wanted to do something different, and this seemed perfect. I had peace. I started making plans, with a very closed heart to any other options. I sat back as everyone else my age scrambled to take the SAT and apply for colleges and scholarships. Not my brightest idea. Here's the curve ball I had thrown my way. Little did I know, this college is not accredited. On top of that, I had problems getting my visa (which allows me to stay the full 2 years), in time to fly over. So then I'm left with a choice. Give up or keep fighting. I'm a firm believer that the devil will use anything he can to discourage you, so I decided to keep hope. My only option now is to go over to Spain for 3 months and come back home without anything to show for it, so just for sheer experience...(a very expensive experience at that) It hit me hard. I have been building this up for almost a year! And less than 2 months before I'm supposed to leave, I find this out. You can imagine my questioning, and my sadness. I felt like I'm a year behind. The options for colleges are still endless, and I'm clueless as to where I see myself in America. God uses my mom in my life a lot, and He did it again. She sat my crying self down and told me that God has a way of reminding us that He's still in control. I needed to learn to hold a loose grip on everything in my life, even the things I'm so sure of. Because God can take it away and change the plan... Suddenly. For MY good. She expressed to me that it was the smartest thing financially to stay in Florida because I could get bright futures and barely have to pay for school. I kept an open mind and remembered that Southeastern university in Lakeland was one of the only Bible colleges in Florida that it covered. I took a leap of faith, left vacation early, and visited. Very nice school. But it was almost as if I was forcing myself to have a peace about this 4 year university, and I couldn't quite find it. There I am in the conference room of the school,  my head on the table, praying about this application laying in front of me.  My mom's phone rings. They ask for Ty.  It's Word of Life Bible Institute, saying they found my name and they would love to have me there. Just for a second, Imagine the look on my face. .....yeah.  "You've gotta be kidding me, God." Maybe He knew I needed an obvious, unmistakable sign. That's sure what I got that day.  This college embraces everything I want to do with my life. From being a camp counselor, to going on missions trips, to being involved with skits that challenge young minds. Just as mine was challenged when I went there at 12 years old and really started to dive into my faith. It changed  my life. Now there is nothing stopping me. I can't put off what God plainly has put in front of me to do. I applied, got accepted, and will be a student at Word of Life Bible Institute in September. I hope to still be able to visit Spain one day. I can't really describe the emotions I felt about letting this opportunity pass me. But it wasn't easy. I can't help but think of the story of Abraham being tested by God to see if he would sacrifice his own son. I wonder if God wanted to see if I would follow Him anywhere, even if I had no clue where I was going. And maybe I needed to learn sacrifice of self will. I'll follow You, Lord, and give myself up. Wow. It still blows my mind that God does not need me, but he wants me, and He chooses to fulfill and bless me beyond belief. My mist of a life is for His Glory, and Word of Life is where I get the pleasure to use my gifts for Him. I can't express how excited I am. There is no greater thing than to do what you were made for. The bible says in Proverbs 16:9, "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." As human as it is to plan, we can't get so caught up in it. I have learned to take one day at a time. And if your plan is from God, you won't be able to stop it. There has to be a point where we finally give up what we think our life should be like and surrender to God's perfect will. He will do far more than we could ever imagine if we just trust Him. Life will open and close a lot of doors. Some doors are meant to keep you from going on the wrong path, some doors are just temporary to fuel your dreams, and some doors are your God-given purpose in life, and you'll know it the minute its opened. I'll tell you this. The things that are worth something in your life are not always easy to get to. They don't just fall in your  lap, you have to go through experiences to prepare you for it. You have to work for it. It just makes those things that much more worth it when they finally happen. It makes you who you are. I would like to thank everyone for supporting me no matter what. My closest friends never discouraged me from reaching my goal of Spain, and that means the world to me. If anything, I hope someone can be encouraged by this and learn from my mistake of setting things in stone. Know that God never lets anything go in vain, and He has had our lives planned out before we were born. He is faithful. And money is only an object when it comes to fulfilling our purpose on earth. He provides. You guys are great, and honestly, it's pretty awesome that I'll only be 4 hours away now! At least for the first year :) (second year is in New York if God leads me there) Thanks for reading. Guided by Him in love, Ty