I’m starting to realize, my life has turned out nothing like I imagined it would.
I never imagined I would marry a younger guy.
I never imagined my dad wouldn’t live long enough to walk me down the aisle.
I never imagined I would “in my 30s” and still not a mom like some high school friends I see on Facebook that have 3 and 4 kids already.
I never imagined I would be such a work-a-holic as a business owner when I simply imagined being a stay at home wife and mom.
I never imagined I would end up a wedding photographer when my whole growing up life did imagine being an architect.
I never imagined my husband and I would end up on the cover of a magazine.
I never imagined…. well…. a lot of things.
And on our 1-year anniversary on Monday, I never imagined I would spend it sick as a dog in bed, only to drag myself out to go to the doctor and then the accountant to pay Uncle Sam what he is due.
And then the following day, I wanted to blog about our 1-year anniversary, but I never imagined instead I would be using that day to attend the funeral service of a dear 96-year-old friend who was the very reason I came to know Jesus when I was 13.
As I sat through her funeral, and stood up to give a reading in front of the very baptismal where I was baptized as a teen, I began to think of all these ways that my life ended up nothing like I imagined it would when I used to sit in those pews each Sunday morning and imagine what my life would be like as an adult.
Yet, the irony of it all is, I know that’s exactly what you give up when you become a Christian. You give up the plans you have for your life and surrender to the greater plans God has for your life. We don’t always understand the purpose of His plans, why He gives and takes away, or why you end up going down a completely different path than you ever imagined, but despite it all, I wouldn’t trade God’s love, hope, strength and peace, for anything.
And despite not being able to kiss or hug Stephen on our anniversary, he still went out of his way to surprise me with a special at home fondue dinner accompanied by a display of our vows and the sweetest words written in a special card. And though I didn’t have a stitch of make up on, and wasn’t dressed up, and was coughing through most of the dinner, all I could think when I looked at his smile through dinner was:
“This day turned out nothing like I imagined…. it was better.”
