Nickolene Lurch

Sometimes the hardest thing to accept is that life can be good and still look nothing like the life you once imagined.

There were things I thought I would have figured out by now. Places I thought I would be. Relationships I thought would last. Plans I was certain would work. I had an idea of what certain seasons of my life were supposed to look like, and some of them simply did not turn out that way.

For a while, I measured my life against that picture.

I looked at what was missing instead of what was growing. I noticed what had not happened instead of everything God had already carried me through. And without realizing it, I could become so focused on the life I thought I should have that I missed the life I was actually living.

But I’m learning something.

Different does not automatically mean disappointing.

Sometimes the unexpected road introduces you to a version of yourself you never would have met on the easier one. You discover strength you did not know you had. Your priorities change. Your faith deepens. You become more comfortable with letting go of timelines that were never promised to you in the first place.

Proverbs 16:9 (KJV) says,

“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”

That Scripture hits differently when you’ve lived long enough to watch some of your plans change.

It reminds me that I can make plans without making an idol out of them. I can have hopes without believing my life has failed when God leads me another way. I can grieve what didn’t happen and still be grateful for what is happening.

Maybe that’s part of maturity: learning to stop demanding that life resemble the picture we created years ago.

Some chapters will surprise us. Some people won’t make it to the chapters we thought they would. Some doors will close. Other doors will open that we never knew existed.

And somewhere in all of that, life keeps unfolding.

So I’m learning to hold my plans with open hands.

I’m learning that a changed plan isn’t necessarily a ruined plan.

And I’m learning that just because my life doesn’t look exactly like I thought it would doesn’t mean God isn’t doing something beautiful with it.

Reflection to Carry With You

You don’t have to dislike the life you have simply because it looks different from the life you once imagined.

Give yourself permission to appreciate where you are while still believing there is more ahead.

Keep flowing on purpose,
Nicki.