A season for everything

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:"
--Ecclesiastes 3:1

They say there's a reason for everything and I'm starting to believe that. What if I hadn't been in Youngstown the day my cousin called from Denver? What if I hadn't answered the phone and re-established a connection with him? What if I had stopped there instead of sending emails and planning a visit? What if I had never gone to Denver for spring break? How different would my life be?

After my trip to Denver last week, I feel like things are playing out the way they are for a reason. The pastor at the church I visited made a comment during his sermon that we weren't there by accident. We could have been at any other church in the Denver metro area that morning and instead we walked through the doors of Thorncreek for a reason. It wasn't a mistake and God had a purpose for it. That's how I feel about my visits to Colorado and for why I'm still single. Obviously God is using this stage in my life for a reason, even if I don't always understand that reason.

When I landed in Denver on my first day of my vacation, I felt like I was home again. I feel as if God is opening up doors for me and to opportunities I would never have considered before that first trip to Denver. I know I still have a little over a year and a half left of grad school but I feel like God may be molding me to come out of my comfort zone into a completely different place that He has chosen for me. There's something calling me out to Denver and it's more than just the people I've established a relationship with. I have friends in other states and other cities but you don't see me wanting to move there. I feel like all of these small visits are God's way of branching me out of my comfort zone into the realm of the unknown (Casting Crowns lyric anyone? haha) to mold me into a stronger woman.

For so long I have griped about being single and not understanding why I'm 25 years old and yet I've never been in a serious relationship. After a long talk with Denise last night at the gym, I realize that this could be why. Mike jokingly tells me that he thinks my soul mate is in Colorado but this is so much more than that. I don't have a boyfriend/fiance/husband, I don't have kids, and once I'm done with my Master's, I won't have school tying me down anymore. There is no reason I can't step out on a ledge and take a flying leap into something I never would have considered before. Yes, my immediate family and my best friends are here, but like my mom said, it gives them a new place to visit and I need to follow my heart and do what my heart is telling me.

I shouldn't be looking at this period in my life as traumatic and like I'm missing something. Instead, I should be looking at it as an opportunity to explore the world and do things I can't do with a husband and kids. This is my chance to be free and to be me and to let God take me where He wants to take me. He has so much to teach me and I have so many things I want to do so I'm going to choose to rejoice and I'm going to continue praying to see where this journey is going to take me.