7 Days to Discovering the Gift of YouSample

This is Not What I Imagined

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of the life I’d live when I was “grown up.” Maybe you dreamed about your life, too. Maybe you thought you’d be the scientist to find a cure for cancer. Or you might have seen yourself driving a van full of kids to soccer practice. Or you might have expected to be wearing a glamorous gown as you accepted your Academy Award. Those are all great dreams. But you know what? I haven’t met anyone whose life unfolded according to the exact plan—or timing!—they imagined when they were nine or ten.

Julia Child wrote her first cookbook when she was forty-nine. Betty White was a little-known actress until she was cast on The Mary Tyler Moore Show at the age of fifty-one. Toni Morrison was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of sixty-two and the Presidential Medal of Freedom when she was eighty-one!

Maybe the dreams you’ve had for your life haven’t unfolded according to your timeline. It’s okay to grieve that. But if you’re still breathing, I’m certain that God has more good in store for you.

As you look at the lives of those around you, reflect on the people you know who have experienced God’s blessing later than they expected.

God, You have heard my cry. Even though I don’t always understand Your timing, I am putting my trust in You today. Open my eyes as I sing a new song of praise to You. Amen.