Live long and prosper

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). It's such an encouraging verse, and it's no wonder it is constantly quoted to those who have no clue what's going to happen next. But...have you read Jeremiah 29:10 recently? It says His plan of prosperity is that He will fulfill His promise to them...in 70 years! I don't know about you, but that realization was not a warm fuzzy one.

The slow progress of support-raising reminds me of that some days, but I am beginning to sink in to the comfort of the truth. It's not a nice comfort of believing God is working everything out for my ease, pleasure, health, and wealth, as soon as possible. It's way better. It's a trust and confident hope that this is His plan, right now, and it's way bigger than me. If my desire is for Him alone, and for Him to get bunches of glory and worship, I can have complete confidence, because, as Pete the Cat says, "it's all good". (By the way, if you are unfamiliar with the story of Pete the Cat, you are missing out. You should follow that link immediately.)

One of my favorite reminders of how big and awesome God's plan is? When my mom was living in Japan 22 years ago, pregnant with me, when she went to church and the music of worship started, I would start wriggling and kicking like crazy, like I wanted to get in on the action. I was clueless, and He was already setting everything up for Himself, music, and Japan to be ingrained in my life. Yeah...He knows what He's doing. (The picture is me with some random lady who thought I was cute, and you can see my Mom to the right)