Recently, I have been evaluating my almost 40 years. I started out thinking, wow, I haven't met any of my goals. It was then in my self-pity, that God was able slap me. And say, "you met them, take a minute and reevaluate, this time look at them with My boundaries and not Rachel's."
This is what I found -
Goal #1 - I want to be a teacher when I grow up.
Rachel's Idea
My view of this had me in an amazing classroom full of children who were excited that I was their teacher. A classroom that other teachers only longed to have - full of wonder, color, technology, and creativity. I was going to make a difference in lives of countless students. I was going to be that teacher they always thought of as adults, when they thought of the teacher that made a difference in their lives.
God's Idea
I am the teacher to three amazing people. I sit at my kitchen table surrounded by laundry, dirty dishes, and lunch plates discussing the Trojan War, atomic structure, how to find the area of a circle, the Apollo space missions, and how to write a good paragraph - simultaneously. I will the be the teacher they think of when they grow up, by default :).
Goal #2 - I want to change the world.
Rachel's Idea
I was going to do something that people would recognize as world changing. Something that made this world a better place. Something that allowed this world to have little more potential.
God's Idea
He gave me three acres of "the world" to change. I have quite literally changed the physical world on which we live. What was once over grown and unusable, is now producing food and allowing animals to sustain life. It is providing a place for family and friends to get away from the hustle and bustle and find hope and peace. My three acres have potential and there is lot more "world" changing left to do.
Goal #3 - I want a big family.
Rachel's Idea
We were going to give the Duggar's a run for their money :)
God's Idea
He gave me body that would have limits, but heart that would not. Becoming a foster parent has allowed me to love - at last count 7 little blessings. Who knows? Some of these blessing may officially become Medlin's, but all of them have been loved with a mother's love.
Goal #4 - I want to preach The Word.
Rachel's Idea
I was going to be a preacher like all those preachers I know. I was going to stand in a pulpit and deliver sermons that would make people want to be different.
God's Idea
Here is the definition of preach on google -
Full Definition of PREACH
intransitive verb
1
: to deliver a sermon
2
: to urge acceptance or abandonment of an idea or course of action
Looks like God had definition number in mind for me.
And Finally Goal #4 - I want to be a writer.
Rachel's Idea
I wanted to walk through the library and see my name on the spine of a book. I wanted to write words that move people. Words that would link in with other goals I had like changing the world and preaching.
God's Idea
He gave me a blog and let me vent my heart about how He deals with me.
Do you see the pattern yet? All my goals were totally ME centered. All about how my name would make a difference. All His fulfillment's of my goals are totally GOD centered. They can't be described without using His name. They can't be explained without giving Him glory. And they certainly would not have been met without His direction.
I am so glad God took my goals and made them His. I might not be everything I thought I was going to be. But I live in assurance that God has allowed me to meet every goal.
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