"I have come so that you may have LIFE and have it to the FULLEST." -- John 10:10


The topic of seasons of life has come up more than once in my conversations over the past months. At 26, I am surrounded by people in various stages of their lives, some single, some married, some with children… but all important to me. If you would have asked me 10 years ago where I would be I would have said married with kids of course (it’s a Southern thing). You go to college, get married and have babies (that’s just what people do here). Lately, I’ve felt like my life has started to go in slow motion, not really progressing as one would think a life should progress. Questioning am I doing the right thing, is this where God wants me, am I making a difference in the people’s lives around me? Almost as if I’m at a standstill… the more I thought about it, the more I became okay with where I am. I’m in a season that is uniquely mine and has been for the past two years. A season that has changed my life for the better, a season where my Savior finally revealed His face to me, a season that I can honestly say I was finally delivered…. a truly beautiful season. Why then would I want it to be any different? To look like anyone else’s season?


I go to bed tonight not questioning God anymore but thanking him for this season, one in which I fell more in love with God, made some incredible life changing friends, and have had the privilege of doing things I never would have gotten to do had my life looked any different, had it looked like what I thought it would 10 years ago. Thankful for the ability to travel, to travel to Haiti several times, to eventually travel to Uganda in February, to spend one on one time with God in my own house, to spend quality time with my family, to visit friends all over the country, to be able to invite those I love and care about into my home and hopefully change their lives for the better. Looking back on it from this standstill, so to speak, I’m abounding with joy and gratefulness that this season has been what it has, it’s been nothing like I thought it would look but isn’t that what life’s about? We have no idea where life is going to take us but the beauty of that is when we get to these standstills and have time to reflect back we see how far we’ve come. It’s hard to see the big picture in the moment but each of these little seasons simply prepares us for the next. I’m encouraged by Jesus’ words when He said I have come so that you may have life and have it to the fullest and to consider it pure joy when you face trials and to remember He has a plan for your life that’s bigger and better than you could ever imagine or dream up. How awesome to serve a God that we can’t even begin to comprehend sometimes. But that promises us He will never leave our sides no matter what season of life we are in. If He could say anything to me right now I know he'd say, Trust me Stephanie, trust me, embrace it and let go… =)