Walking 100 miles!!

As I've been walking in the last few weeks, a certain song has been running through my mind off and on.  I decided that, despite a few fishy lyrics, I would take it for my superhero walking song.  You might recognize it from the (also sometimes questionable) TV show How I Met Your Mother:  500 Miles  (YouTube Link).

Okay, so I haven't walked 500 miles.  But as of today, I have walked 100 miles!  Today, I have walked 100 miles in 2015!  100 miles...it seems like so much!  I would never have believed on January first that I was going to walk 100 miles by April 20th.  But I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

I just started by putting one foot in front of the other.  I started walking 100 miles a half-mile at a time.  It was a long, long road that got me to 100 miles including some major setbacks (flu and a second miscarriage in March).  I think that's the way to reach most goals we set for ourselves, though.  One foot in front of the other, chopping our goals into small baby steps, we are able to achieve the goals set for ourselves.

Sometimes our goals fizzle out and die.  Sometimes, our goals stop being important to us.  I think what makes the difference is where God is in our goal.  Have you asked God about reaching this goal?  Have you asked God where He wants you to go?  Maybe your goal will take you away from God's plans and purpose for you.  Maybe your goal will do more harm than good in the long run, either for yourself or others.  I've had some pretty lofty goals in my 30 years.  (Anyone else go through the "I'm going to be a star" phase?  Just me?  Okay, moving on!)

Ten years ago, my goals in life were

1.  Teach kindergarten

2.  Get married

3.  Have kids

I achieved all three by 23.  At first, I thought, "Great!  Mission accomplished!"  But I had a lot more living left to do.  If average life expectancy is at almost 80 years old, I had 57 years of life left.  I soon realized God had much more in store for me than those three goals.

Today I'm wary of setting long term goals.  My goal of teaching kindergarten was great and I enjoyed the five years I taught.  But in two months, God completely upended my plans and I was resigning my job to stay home with my daughter.  Rather, I'm learning to ask God, "Where to next?"

Right now, He's sending me off on the next 100 miles.  Only He knows where He's sending me tomorrow, though!

(Me in all my unedited, non-hair fixed, not yet showered, bleary-eyed glory!)