Live your Life.

Since probably March or April, God has continually been trying to tell me to stop planning out my life the way I do. I'm naturally a planner- I want to know every detail, so as to avoid as many risks as possible. I want my life to be strategically planned out, and when I live in this mindset, I limit not only myself, but what God can do with the unexpected. I feel like I used to not be so neurotic... maybe not... but it's one of those things that suffers from the snowball effect. It builds and builds and builds. I spend so much time worrying about the future that I miss out on the present. My mom and I have been talking about this a lot lately, and she's given me a lot of wisdom when it comes to the topic.

The stupid thing about all of it is that 9 times out of 10, all the options are great options. All the options will make me happy. I just freeze at the thought of picking the wrong one, when in reality, as long as the decision doesn't damage my relationship with Christ or my witness to others- as long as I'm still honoring God- I don't need to stress about it.

As a result of all this soul searching, I'm doing something incredibly random on Friday that will be a constant reminder to live in the moment. I've got to stop stressing about what the future may or may not bring, because the only things I can control are my actions and reactions today. Awhile back, Mark Beeson wrote on his blog, "We must plan for the future while participating in the present." I've been doing a lot of "planning for the future," without enough of the "participating in the present," and that's not how it should be. I don't want to spend my whole life planning for things that may never happen.

Change takes baby steps, and change takes constant reminders. I've found when I relax and go with my gut in situations, as opposed to planning out every step and stressing when things don't go according to plan, I am MUCH MUCH happier. So I'm going with my gut, and I'm incredibly excited about it :)