outside the box.

i remember being in the 11th grade.  college was drawing closer and the pressure to decide who i wanted to be for the rest of my life was heavy.  at 17, there are more important things like boys and who's who in the junior class.  in youth group, us girls would write down lengthy lists of who our future husbands had to be.  a lover of God, handsome, a leader, a servant, at least six feet tall, a millionaire... you know, the usual.

then you wind up with a man who is in full time ministry (i think that is the antithesis of a millionaire - ha).  and then thank God that He did not grant you everything on that list.  He granted you something more and better.  something more than your mind could conceive.

i think of one of my dearest friends.  she found out they could not have children.  although she went through grief with this new reality, her mourning quickly turned to hope.  hope for something better than what she imagined, realizing God has a plan that is beyond the box.  and happens to look like a curly headed, seven week old beauty that she calls her own.

it is magnificent to see how God takes cinders and ashes to paint beautiful canvasses of crimson and gold.

our heartbreak, changed courses, new directions, become avenues for God's extended grace.

today, i'm reminded to be thankful for a God who does not fit neatly inside my narrowly constructed box. i'm glad God does not stay in the walls i create.  He is bigger and better and greater, far beyond my wild dreams.

linking with my sweet friend, rachel.