I am 21 and a junior in college, and I honestly thought I would be married by now. I had pictured myself getting married by 21 (or shortly after turning 21) like two of my sisters did. I couldn’t wait to find a husband, become a homemaker, and add my own personalized contribution to my parents’ collection of grandbabies, while giving my numerous nieces and nephews some new cousins.
That was my plan. I went to college after high school with a vague idea of what I wanted to study, but mostly I was husband shopping. It didn’t really matter what I studied anyways, because I figured I would meet the love of my life within a year or two and finish college later.
But God’s plan was different. I am over halfway done with college and I am loving every second of my Early Childhood Education major. God has unleashed a fiery passion in me to not only love and protect children who are already born, but those who are unborn. There is no husband on the horizon as far as I can see and I’m learning to be okay with that. Sure, I have (and still do) wept in despair wondering why God is withholding one of the deepest desires of my heart –to be a wife and become a mother. I have prayed raw prayers saying, “God are You even listening to me? I need this. Why won’t you give it to me? My heart is breaking because You are holding out on me. I need a husband.” And God has patiently responded, “Am I not enough? I love you, and I have a plan for you, you just need to trust Me.”
The funny thing is that neither of my sisters who married so young planned on that happening. One of my sisters really didn’t plan on ever getting married; she wanted to be an overseas missionary. My other sister didn’t really plan on getting married either; she was very involved in her college major. One of my brothers-in-law had simply accepted that he was going to be a bachelor for the rest of his life before he met my sister. These stories go to show how rarely our ideas of how our lives should go actually come to be.
See, if I was married at this moment I wouldn’t have the freedom I have to pursue the career that I am, or to completely throw myself into the pro-life organization I have co-developed on my campus. I wouldn’t be living with the most Godly, wonderful women I get to do life with. I wouldn’t be working at my current job, and I wouldn’t be in the lives of the people/classmates/coworkers that I come into daily contact with. Best of all, I wouldn’t have developed the trust I have in God if He would have just given me everything I had asked for immediately when I asked for it. God is showing me that His plan is better.
I know this is just a small part of my story, though it seems big now, but all that God has taught me will have an eternal impact. God has demonstrated His faithfulness in ways I have never seen before. I don’t need a husband to find security, I have full security in God. I don’t need to have a husband to feel complete because God completes me. I always kind of thought that God demonstrated His faithfulness to people by giving them whatever they had asked for immediately when they asked for it. But no, God has shown me that He is not limited to what I want Him to do; that He loves me and has a plan for me, and He will be faithful in carrying out His plan for me. Absolutely, I still long for marriage and hope that it is in God’s plan for my life, but whatever God has in store, it is better than what I could have ever asked for.
Waiting can be hard and waiting can be excruciating. But God, I know that Your Plan Is Better.
{{Takeaways}}
You may be thinking, “Aww, cute story, Victoria”, but this isn’t just my story! It is just one of the billions of stories glorifying God and His faithfulness, and I hope that it encouraged you and helped you to see God’s faithfulness and love for you in your own life!
{{Truths to Remember}}
“… we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” ~ Romans 5:3-5;
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11-13
Victoria's Thoughts 