I got to thinking...

I had a bunch of crazy dreams last night. Some were good, some were awful and woke me up to pray. I prayed in earnest but it got me to thinking.....

I am so grateful that God created me to be in my family, in the time to which I was born. First and foremost, I would not be the me that I am.  It took specific DNA to make me the me that I am. All the experiences, places I have lived, good things, bad things, all worked together to make me the person I am today. If I had been raised in a family that did not have faith, I would be different. If I had been raised in another country, I would be different. What If I had been raised in a place that does not believe in God? I can't imagine that life. It astounds me that God in all His infinite wisdom put me where He wanted me. He called me to Himself and gave me new life in Christ. If I had not been me, there would have never been a Chris, Hannah, or Jennifer. I can not imagine the world without my children in it.  I can not imagine the world where I did not have the sister I have or the friends that I have. God sees all and knows all. He does not make people believe, nor does He make people do bad things to people, but life happens and He lets people make their own choices.  It's called free will and something it is cliche. Yet, without free will, we would be puppets.  That is one of the reasons we need to be so careful of our choices.  Our choices, actions, and deeds effect others.  If we hurt others it can impact them for a lifetime.  God can't force us to make the right choice. So despite choices others made that effected my life, God turned what was meant for bad to good, because I chose to follow Him and for Him to control my life.

He made each of us for such a time as this. He knew when He wanted you to live. He knew the people He wants you to impact. How we impact those people is up to the choice we make. We can be world changers simply being who HE called us to be. He designed us for a purpose in the time He wanted us to be in. He calls us all to Him, everyone, but we have to choose Him.

So, even when life is hard and things are not going the way I would like or planned, I have to trust Him.  Bad things happen. Good things happen. We just have to choose to spread love and goodness into the world through Christ.  Our actions often speak so much louder than our words.  God made us to be a positive, loving, joy spreading force in our world.

I praise God that I got to live in such a time as this.  I got called by Him to live a life of faith. I praise God that I get to walk through this life, ups and downs included, with Jesus holding my hand and helping me stand strong. I have made and will make choices that are not what God wanted, but I know God can help me turn it around. He forgives me when I make mistakes. He can help those who I missed by using someone else. All is not lost if we don't follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to touch someone's life. They can be helped by someone else. It just means we lost that opportunity to see what God was going to do in that moment.