Imagine

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..." - Ephesians 3:20

I have these words up on my wall above my drawing table as an encouragement to never give up on my dream to illustrate my own children's book.  It began 20 years ago when my imagination took flight and I started writing stories.  They seemed to come out of nowhere.  I felt I was taking dictation because I never knew where the story was leading until I got there.

Life is like that.  We may imagine and dream about what we want our future to look like, but for most of us our lives turn out far beyond what we ever imagined.  This was brought home to me this week when we helped our friends celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary along with our 48th.  Fifty years ago none of us could have thought we'd be where we are in life.  We married at very young ages and statistically we should have been divorced by now.  Financially we've done better than our parents.  I remember just wanting a house with a yard for my future children and would have been very content to stay in our little townhouse.  Instead I ended up with much more.  But even more importantly, I never imagined what it meant to have a relationship with God until I quit trying to do everything myself and started relying on the Holy Spirit to transform me and lead me on the path that He had prepared for me.

I am grateful that God gives me the desires of my heart when I take delight in staying close to Him.