"Everyone has a [Winnie the] Pooh character. Yours is Rabbit. You just like your carrots in a row and there's nothing wrong with that."

"She's a female Kermit, 100 percent."

The above are the slightly paraphrased statements of my lovely future family as they have gotten to know me this summer. While I at times got a little miffed at these comparisons, I couldn't really stay mad. In truth, they were pretty spot-on to who I am as a person.

I am a worrier. I am a planner and a thinker. I don't "just do" anything, Nike. I have actually turned down last minute plans, not because I didn't have the time available or because it wouldn't be fun, but because I hadn't been planning on doing anything. I know, I know, that's so strange. It's also a frustrating point of irony because I believe that part of this is how God made me; God made me the antithesis of the person He desires us to be.

Okay, so that's an overly dramatic statement but it is so hard to go where God wants to send me, to follow Him without question, and to submit fully to His will when none of it is run by me first. God doesn't have a team pow-wow with me. He doesn't even want to get together once before the presentation sometimes. God can be a fly-by-the-seat-of-His-pants, make-it-up-as-He-goes, doesn't-know-where-He's-going kind of person.

Except not at all. Comparatively, that's me.

God is not a God of whims or fancies. He's not throwing you unexpected curve balls. That awful thing that happened the other day? That wasn't an oversight in His plan, a risk He didn't account for. That time you just knew that God's plan for your life was to do that specific plan, but then you turned left last minute? That wasn't a wrong turn. God's not lost.

The problem here is not God's lack of planning or an ever changing mind. It's not God misinforming you. It is you — it is me — not listening, not seeking, not doing. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Proverbs 16:9 tells us that, "in their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps."

We as people have our own plans, our own desires. We have our own ideas as to where our life is headed, should be headed, should not head. At the very least, I know that I do. If you're telling me that I'm the only one, well, I'm sorry, but I'm calling you a liar. Control feels good. Submission? Not so much. It's hard to release that control to someone else. Especially full control. It'd be one thing if we "allowed" God to have control over our lives, but that He would check in. Y'know like the construction worker who designs that plans for you, but shows you before He starts to build anything. That kind of control surrender, I think I could easily do. But the, "Eh, you know what you're doing, build what you want," surrender...it doesn't work as well for me. Maybe it doesn't work for you either.

Well, the blunt reality of that is "too bad, so sad, it's happening." As non-Christians, you make the mistake in thinking that anything within your life is not influenced by God. As Christians, we forget that our lives are not our own. We surrender it all to God, because He was and is to come. Returning back to the aforementioned verses, we can see that God has had a plan for us always. Countless passages tell us that God had a plan for us before we were even in the womb. Before time existed, God knew my life path.

I think that the problem for me, and maybe for you, too, is that you simply don't trust God enough. The maker of the universe, who spoke all into existing, who made something out of nothing just does not have the credentials to guide my life. Only I, stupid sinful being that I am, have the know-how on how to steer this ship. How ridiculous is that? How crazy am I to not accept the control of God in my life?

Next week, I'm going to get my hair done, a nice little "back to college" treat for myself. I don't really know what I want, but I've known this hairdresser for probably close to six years. I plan on going in there, telling her that I want it blonde again but not bland with a trim. Then, I'm just leaving it in her hands to do (sorry for the pressure, Jenyie). My hair is my "prize feature" besides my eyes. I'll wear smelly clothes for week, just give me a good hair day each day. You'd think I'd be the picky girl with the Pinterest board, giving a clear cut order to what I want. But I'm not. Why? Because I have no clue what I am doing and am choosing to trust the lady with all the hair experience.

I need to trust God with His all encompassing experience. Heck, if He really wanted to He would be able to make my hair literally grow in the colors and length that I perfectly want them to be. Jenyie takes a guess at my heart, about the look that I'll love and that will suit my facial structure. God fully knows my heart. God knows what career will bring fruition. He knows which people and circumstances will in the end bless me. But he also knows that it's about more than that.

The biggest thing to remember is that as a Christian your life is not lived for you, it is not about what you love or desire. A Christian's life is lived for God, to honor and glorify Him in all things.

To do that we must not just surrender control, we must die to sin and become alive in Christ. Do you heart a favor and read all of Romans chapter six.

It's hard, but if you struggle with giving up control and surrendering yourself to Christ, remember who He is (Alpha and Omega, Good Father) and remember who you are (the potter's clay, the young child). You cannot do this life without Him, and outside of His will you will not truly thrive.