avoiding winter

Winter has started to move into Auburn and I am so excited. The end of fall and beginning of winter is my favorite time of year. So many good things come along with winter: jackets, hockey, coffee any time of day, smores, fire in the fireplace, scarves, Christmas time... it's fantastic. As i made my way across campus today, I noticed that multiple people were in complete denial that winter has arrived. It is currently 54 degrees in Auburn, it's not ok to be wearing shorts and a tank top with rain boots today. It's cold. People are funny this way though, I feel like sometimes when change comes without expectation people continue on how they were before in efforts to stunt the incoming differences that will be met at the face of the change. The range of examples are as wide as the range of different changes we all experience. I feel like my life has changed so much in the past year and lately I've been learning how to live one day at a time and live with two expectations: for the Lord to guide me and show me how His renown can be evident in my life. I am asked more than once everyday what my plans are for the next year and with a smile on my face I have finally been able to confidently say "I have no idea, but the Lord has a plan so I'm trusting in that".[jeremiah 29:11-13] . It's not been an easy journey to be able to stand in that comfort, but the journey has been worth while and it's done nothing but lead me back to a place of surrender. This place that I stand in could be seen as lonely and dark. But in the light of who He is to me, it's one of the most beautiful places of uncertainty I've ever been. The word says to "be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" [psalm 27:14]. So I'm clinging to the truth that while He has shut doors of opportunity, and while I'm waiting for Him to open new ones that He is shaping me to look more like Himself. He wants so much more for us than we can ever imagine. So take heart and wait on the Lord. He wants to walk through change and newness with us. He is enough. He is bigger than our situation. He is bigger than our hearts. He loves us. Embrace the winter. Embrace change. Embrace His infinite wisdom in your circumstance.