Alligators and Windmills

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”  For as long as I can remember, my answer to that very question was, “I want to get married and have a family.” I didn’t know it then, but I know now that being a wife and mother was and is part of God’s plan for my life.

Nearly half of my life has been spent being just that.  At the age of 23, I married my best friend and before I hit my 30th birthday, I had been blessed with three beautiful children.  My life is amazing and I wouldn’t trade a minute for all the money in the world, but it hasn’t come without its own share of obstacles.

I’m guessing by the time most of you were 4 or 5 you had played mini golf or at least knew about it.  You probably encountered obstacles on most of the 18-hole course, just like I did.  Trying to hit the ball through the mouth of a plastic alligator or past a spinning windmill usually set my game back by a few strokes.  If the timing or alignment of my swing were slightly off, the ball would certainly not make it.  I can remember many times, after 3, 4, or more swings of the club, if the ball had not made it to its intended destination, I would force it down the green and into the hole or pick up the ball and move on.

It’s never been a plastic alligator that threw my life out of alignment. I am my own obstacle, through sin, my own doing, and trying to force my life to go the way I want it to. Thankfully, God is quick to adjust the alignment and get me back track. God’s plans don’t fail. His timing is perfect…nothing can stop God’s plans for my life (Isaiah 14:27). I have to align myself with God and He will establish my steps. He removes the obstacles and clears the path.

My life’s goal is certainly not mastering mini golf, but to point others to Christ and to spend eternity with Him in Heaven.

What are your goals? What obstacles have you faced in pursuing your goals?