All I Ever Wanted

All I ever wanted was to be married to my high school sweetheart (my dh), teach at a small school with him, have one daughter, and live in a country neighborhood in Pekin. All I ever wanted was to live this life out peacefully and own my share of the American Dream. At 30, I was certainly on my way to having all I ever wanted.

That's all I ever wanted, but then I joined up with God and found out that what He wanted (and wants) for my life is so much more than I imagined it could ever be. I have been doing a great study about discerning the voice of God. Last night at Bible Study, we were asked to think about the fact that God's voice reveals His plan. We talked about how God's plan can certainly change the course of your life. About how a new destination that you never had in mind comes into your heart..

All I ever wanted has become so much more..I am the wife of a godly man lucky enough to serve in full time ministry. I have a much bigger house than I ever could have dreamed I would (because we live in a parsonage). I have many more children to love than I ever thought possible (because we are in teen ministry and I dearly love each one of the sheep God has brought us). I have a unity and love in my marriage I never could have fathomed (because my man strives to love me as Christ loved the church). I am adopting from China (because of the generous help of believers who gave unselfishly of themselves to see James 1:27 fulfilled). I have traveled to foreign lands to share the good news of Christ with those who don't know (because He has the cattle on a thousand hills and provides abundantly so that I can serve Him). I am led to tears each and every time I think of all that I never wanted because I never knew to dream that God could do it. I didn't even know to hope for these things because I didn't know Him. If I just hadn't wasted so long holding on to All I Ever Wanted... what might God have done??

Following God has been the greatest adventure of my life!! I continue to be overwhelmed, amazed, and speechless at His working. He works out His plans for me, not because I deserve it, but because He loves me and desires for me to walk intimately beside Him so that I might bring glory to His name through my life.
How I praise Him for the way that He continues to speak to me and change my ideas about All I Ever Wanted... I am grateful that His plans for my life have been so much more than All I Ever Wanted..and I anxiously anticipate the days to come.