Hmm: In 5 years?!

At Passion Andy Stanley said that we should write out where we'd like to be in the next five years and then make every effort not to give into our appetites or to let them rule over us so that we can attain those goals.

Here goes...

In five years I will be.... 29 years old. OH MY GOSH. ....let me just let that sink in for a sec....... Dude. I hadn't calculated that before.

In that case, I really hope I'm married or at least engaged or in a serious relationship! I hope I'm an elementary school teacher (at Trinity perhaps!). I hope that I have gone to China and back to New York City. I don't want to be a mom yet. But I would probably start trying to have kids before I turn 32-ish. Because I definitely want kids!

Actually about being a wife...I have been thinking, even though I've definitely seen how hard it can be to be a wife of a man in the ministry, I would really love it if God allowed me to be a pastor or missionaries wife. How cool would it be to live in another country and raise a family on such radical faith?! Sounds so exciting. But on the flip side, how quaint would it be to raise a family at one church (no moving around!!) and enjoy the comforts of a close knit church family and coming up with lots of cool events and fellowship opportunities for the church to grow close as a family?!

If I don't live where I am now, then I hope I either live in Mars Hill, North Carolina; Orlando, FL; or some other country or some place exciting like Hawaii. I hope I still act young even though I am more mature in a lot of ways. I hope I am a joy to be around with a cheerful/friendly attitude and encouraging people around me. I hope if I am married that I don't depend on my husband for my source of joy, but on God alone.

I hope I am godly. I hope I have learned how to cook and sew and how to do other womanly things. I hope I'm not uptight or nagging or obnoxious or anything! I hope I have a great outlook on life. I hope I am doing something that I'm passionate about and working with people. God has given me a desire to be a wife and mother, I hope I am either on my way to full-filling that or if not that I am patient or if it's not gonna happen that God has taken that desire away.

BUT if all of that doesn't happen in 5 years. It's ok. I'm sure God has a good reason for it, after all these are MY plans, not HIS, there's no telling where I'll actually be in 5 years. My life so far has been great, but definitely completely different than I had ever planned or imagined. So I know from experience that God knows EXACTLY what He's doing and He doesn't need my help. So it's cool. I really don't have to worry.