I Know the Plans

Growing up I had a list of expectations for how my life would turn out.  I painted the picture of what my life as an adult would look like and nothing was going to stop me from getting there!  This list included things like...

1. Go AWAY to college...my heart was set on Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
2. Study pharmacy in college and one day be a pharmacist.
3. Meet and date the man I would marry while in college.
4. Live in the suburbs in a track development like where I grew up.
5. Have 3-5 kids...at least one boy named Nathan or Joshua and a girl named Abigail.
6. Live happily ever after in my fairy tale life!

There is nothing wrong in dreaming and working hard to reach those dreams.  And for a while I was on the path towards marking everything off my list!  There was one MAJOR flaw with my list though....it was MY list created by ME!  What's wrong with that, you ask??  MY list was missing God and God's will for my life!  Enter God and this is where that list stands today...

1. I went away to college...Duquesne even!  LOVED my time in Duquesne but I ultimately ended up returning home to Rochester to finish my education.
2. I'm currently in my 12th year of being a Special Education Teacher which has NOTHING to do with pharmacy.
3. Once I returned to Rochester, I met, dated, and married Matt...we will be celebrating 12 years of marriage this August!
4. We bought our house in the village of Sinclairville three years ago.  Where is Sinclairville?  I asked the same question years ago.  It's a little rural village in the heart of Chautauqua County in Western New York.  I absolutely HEART Sinclairville! :)
5. We have TWO kids.  Mattie is now 8 and Nathan is 6.  
6. My life may not be a fairy tale, but I'm certainly living my happily ever after.

2011 ~ Our first year in Sinclairville.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.  "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

The Lord had a different plan for me, and while it may not be what I expected, I can honestly say there was no way of dreaming up a life this good!  My life is not perfect or problem free...it is blessed beyond measure!