I read a devotion today that completely caught my emotions off guard.
Tears filled my eyes quicker than they had in a very long time.
The author described the way a camera can capture a joyous moment in our lives that can enable us to enjoy it forever.
Looking at old photographs can bring back amazing memories, like how cute my husband used to look in high school wearing his cowboy boots, hat, and football jersey on game days.
That always gives me a good smile.
Looking at our lives is kind of like staring at a photograph that makes us happy.
We want to remember and focus on the “happy times” in our lives, even if it’s not happening at this particular moment in time.
We all have a “snapshot” of happiness…mine shows the gorgeous almond orchards of Northern California.
That’s where my heart is.
It’s still there and I can’t seem to move it anywhere else.
My life camera captured the short moments we made our home there and made an everlasting print in my soul.
For the past two months, I have asked God, “why?”
Why did you take me from that place I loved so dearly?
Why did you allow me to make lasting friendships, the kind I never had before?
Why did you tear us away from the one church we felt so connected with?
Why couldn’t you make it work for us?
Why didn’t you answer my prayers?
We had nothing in Chico, we barely survived…financially, that is.
But my life was full.
For the first time ever, I felt like I was living my life.
I was growing, maturing, blossoming, and shining the way God wants us all too.
I was serving Him and learning the lessons He had lovingly laid before me.
Why then?
A teacher wouldn’t pull a student from a class he was doing so well in, so why did God take my family to this barren, desolate desert where I feel out of sorts in every area of my life?
I try not to stare at this photo for too long, it makes it even worse that my husband is staring at the same exact photo.
I learned today though, that I need to think about the eternal perspective…God’s perspective, the eternal snapshot.
There is a plan, and He has given us all the hope that each of our plans will one day be carried out.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jerimiah 29:11-13
I know that deep down and VERY far back in my mind that there is a place for me here in Las Vegas.
I was very blessed to have called Chico, California my home for that short period of time.
However, as difficult as it may be, I’ve been called to a new adventure, out of my comfort zone and into the battlefield.
I don’t want to feel lost or lonely anymore, what if I miss out on something greater?
Throughout my own personal trials, I’m slowly learning that God sometimes sticks us in places that we don’t want be…and most of the time, it turns out to be a pretty big blessing.
I’m looking forward to that part!
So I pray tonight for myself and every other person out there who is viewing life from their own perspective.
Let us all take a step away from the memories we once knew and let God take our broken pieces and turn them into something more beautiful than we ever imagined!
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
In HIS time, not ours. Let us all allow God to take the pictures of our lives, not us.
