Zero to sixty. That's how things feel like things are moving with all of my plans. A little over two weeks ago I was in a position where the whole mission trip thing was real, but it still seemed to be in the abstract. I knew that I was going, but I did not know much else. Since then frequent emails back and forth to Ethiopia have turned this abstract dream into a very REAL reality! Each and every email makes me feel closer and closer to the life God has called me to. With each new message I get a better peak into what my life will look like at this time next year. It is amazing to me how quickly life can change. This time last year, I only had a faint idea of where I would be heading after graduation (and as you already know, those plans bit the dust). I look at my life now, my life a year ago, and even my life two weeks ago and am in awe of how quickly we come to encounter newness. Though I am one who hates change and struggles daily with fear of the unknowns in life, I have a peace about perhaps the biggest change I have ever faced. At this point, I have no fears about what is to come, just a calm that can only come from the One who holds my future in His hands.
In the Christmas season, as I think about how life can go from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye (or two weeks as my case may be), I cannot help but think of Mary. At this time of year we celebrate the miraculous birth of Jesus to a virgin woman called by God to mother the savior of the world. Talk about zero to sixty! One day she is going about her everyday life, and the next she is preparing to be the mother of Jesus. Was she afraid? Did she experience a sense of calm? Did she have any idea what her future held? That winters night as she and Joseph ventured to Bethlehem, she was still dealing with the abstract idea of what God had called her to, and yet later that evening she brought Jesus into the world, and all of the sudden her life was changed forever. Her abstract became a reality.
This year, perhaps more than others, I can appreciate her side of the story. My situation is about night and day from hers. I'm following God's call to Ethiopia, not mothering the savior of our world. Yet, to some degree I feel like I can relate to Mary. Her life changed overnight, she faced the unknown and yet was still willing to trust His plan. I can only hope to follow God with the same grace and faith as Mary.
I am sure that there will be bumps in the road, in fact, I rest assured that there will be hiccups along the way, but for now I am enjoying this phase of discovery and newness as I learn a little bit more each and every day about what the future looks like for me.
