When the present isn't the future you imagined

We all have dreams for what our future will look like. Sometimes, the present we enjoy is better than the future we imagined, but often, we get derailed by aspects of our life that don't match what we envisioned years earlier.

The other day, there was a conversation in our house about what a certain child had thought about what the future would look like for them. The child said that they hadn't really thought about it. Another child piped in to remind them that they had indeed been talking about future plans, so the first child said "I can't remember." When the second child chimed in "I can remember" the first child responded with "You better not!" It was funny to hear that the children had been talking about what the future would hold, but might be embarrassed to have their hopes for the future revealed.

It got me wondering what types of things my kids have pictured for the future. How much of what they hope for will become a reality? How will they handle the challenge of unmet expectations? And then the really big question - What are they learning from their father about handling detours or problems in life?

I hope they are learning what we read in James chapter 4

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

I hope when life interrupts my plans, when the unexpected comes in life, even when I talk about what plans we are making for the future, I hope they learn to leave room for God in their plans. My present is not the future I imagined when I was growing up, nor the present I imagined 20 years ago, or 15 years ago, probably not even 10 years ago. But it would be hard to imagine a better place to be in my life. I never guessed I would have 8 children. I never would have planned on living in the country. But God is better to me than my plans were. That's a very good reason to say "If the Lord will. . ." when I talk about my plans. That's a very good reason to take the unexpected challenges and detours in life with joy rather than frustration. I hope my kids pick up on that, I hope to show them more of that this week in the way I handle what comes.

Keep looking up! It only gets better!