Last fall, I was asked to speak at my Alma mater in chapel and what God really laid on my heart to share was "When Life Doesn't Turn Out Like You Expected". I thought about what I wish I could tell 19 year old Kelly.
I was a type A, planner in college. Well, I always have been - still am. I like to have a full schedule of my day every day. I like to know what's happening next week, next month and next year. I was 18 with a full picture of what my life was going to look like.
Oh how hilarious God must find me.
I knew I would marry a guy I met at OBU. We would get married after graduation, I would work a couple of years and then have babies by 27. I also majored in business - finance to be exact. I clep'd out of English because I only wanted to take math related courses.
WELL.
Clearly - none of that went as planned. I didn't find my husband in college. I met him on a blind date and got married at 30.
I didn't have babies by 27. I went through 3 years of infertility, several failed IUI's, and finally had a baby at 35. And then had a surprise baby in my 40's.
And I DID work in business for 15 years. But I find myself now working in ministry and writing.
Never did I see any of that coming. And I couldn't be more thankful.
Because only God could write that story.
And it was on the paths that took me away from my "plans" that I drew close to God and knew Him the most. It's where He showed me who He is and how He is really all that matters.
In college, I felt a tug towards ministry. But I didn't know exactly what it meant. I didn't feel a pull towards church ministry or foreign missions. I just knew God was calling me to something. Little did I know - that it would be through something that didn't even exist at the time. That I would one day share my faith on the internet that would lead to other ministry opportunities. I could have never imagined the way He would use me. But He knew.
I just had to learn to trust Him.
I share all this because my life isn't perfect. I have struggles. But I have seen one thread that has been weaved into every part of my life. And that is God is in control and I'm not and trusting Him is the only way I can live. And I pray that if there are those of you that life has not turned out like you expected and you haven't had a happy ending or things haven't been tied up with a perfect string - that you know that even in the lowest of places - He is there.
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit
Jeremiah 17:7-8
