Future Me Will Be Much Cooler

I admire my mom a whole lot.  She is literally the coolest woman I know and I am happy to watch my personality take on some of her traits.

Growing up, I always thought that I would be just like her in the future: get married young, have kids young, finish school before I was a quarter of a century old.

Then the future came about and I now find myself at 25 years old, single (again), still in school, aaaand still working the job I have worked at since high school…

It would be easy to look at these “stills” and become depressed.  And honestly, I have my moments.  But all in all, I have been blessed with a beautiful life.  And I’m not just throwing the word “blessed” around because I’m a Christian (in fact, I actually struggle to use that word because of how casually it is thrown around in Christian circles.  So when I use it, I mean it.).

The beauty and the blessing lie in that God has used this path to show me something invaluable…

There is a reason that you are right where you are right now.

 As intelligent as I am (which is not very), at 25 I am totally sold on the fact that the Creator of the universe knows me inside and out.  He knows what I need and, most importantly, knows who best I can serve and love in this life.

God designed me with particular strengths, but He also created me with certain weaknesses.  Why?  So that His character can be showcased to the world. Even on my best day, God’s compassion, patience, and kindness far surpasses mine!

I’ve transferred four times, once to a college in north Georgia, one in Florida, and two in Massachusetts. There were plenty of good and bad experiences that arose out of each of these moves, but by God’s continual restoration, I am living free of regret or bitterness.

I have met people who have wrecked me, built me, taught me, shaped me, loved me, and healed me – just to name a few!

I have had countless  unique privileges to share the heart of God with people I would not otherwise have met if my life had stayed a little more “in between the lines”.  Like sharing meals in a halfway house with one of my closest friends.  Or helping strangers slaughter a pig for their project launch party because of a chance meeting at a coffee shop.

Then there are those experiences that “build character”, as my dad would say.  Like driving out to the Whites in the middle of the night with someone I had never spent time with outside of work…and then sleeping in my car on the side of the highway…and then waking up bright and early to hike all day.  Or like braving through the cold when the oil ran out a week before Christmas because roomie and I didn’t want to pay the fee for an emergency refill.  Or getting insanely dehydrated while hiking the Whites (on a separate occasion), barely making it off the mountain before dark, and hitchhiking back to our car.

So, while it can be easy to wish away the time for “better days” (you know, the ones where you will be a transformed being, eating more kale and practicing less road rage), it would behoove us to instead channel our wishing for the future into motivation and our view of the past into contentment.

Let me stick it to you this way…

While I know that Future Me will be much cooler, I can also remain content in knowing that God has brought me this far and used everything – my stupid mistakes, my pain, my trials – to grow me and influence others.  And that is something to celebrate!

But the celebrating doesn’t stop there!

Future Me and Future You will be cooler because we will have gained even more wisdom and reached even more people with God’s love.  We should be jazzed about that!

Growth is just plain ole’ a part of life, folks.

So breathe in every experience, encounter, and emotion.  Be okay with God using you where you are right now to grow you and to be in the lives of those around you and love on them!  And be excited about where you’ll be 3, 7, and 12 years from now!  Because you can trust that it is and will be exactly where you’re meant to be, serving who you’re meant to serve.

I think that’s a wrap for the Contentment Series, all!  Stay tuned for what is coming next…!

Peace to you!