Hopes and Dreams

I was finally feeling motivated last night and decided to take on the daunting challenge of going through the pile of stuff that has been sitting in the corner of my apartment for a few months. It had steadily grown as I came across more and more stuff that I didn't want to deal with at the time. But, it's done! Finally. And it feels wonderful to not have that pile of things to address looming in the room. In sorting through all the papers and random trinkets I found a list I made a few months ago of things I wanted to do in life. It looks a little like this:
I want to...
learn to draw (well!)
hike the appalachian trail
live (and teach) in another country (or countries)
go to photography school
travel to every world region
live environmentally friendly
take care of myself
strengthen my faith
gain self-confidence
adopt a child
get married
learn how to drive a motorcycle
diversify my cooking (and keeping it healthy!)
exercise regularly
run a 5k
volunteer regularly
read history through biographies
learn how to make tortillas & atol
go to Seattle
visit every state.

I have not been very successful in completing many of these dreams, but I'm still here! It was really interesting to see what I wanted a few months ago and comparing it to what I want to do in life now. If I were to make a new list it would definitely resemble this list, but there would be some major changes, as my priorities have changed. In as little as a few months my hopes and desires have changed significantly. I can't begin to imagine what they will look like a few years  from now! But I had a thought this morning– as much as my hopes and dreams change as I get older, God's hopes and dreams for my life never change. He wants me to love Him, love people, and love myself (as I am His creation). He wants nothing but the best for me, but... He wants to trust His guidance to know what that is in my life. As much as I want to cling to my list of hopes and dreams, I really need to work on reminding myself what it can mean for my life if I surrender my future to His  list of hopes and dreams. It can be really difficult to ACT as though I know He has the best planned for me. But reality is, He does! So my goal for this week is to prayerfully seek His plans for my life and keep my heart and mind open for what those plans are. With all the crazy uncertainty in life, isn't it great to serve a God who never changes?