“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.”

Jeremiah 29:11 caught my eye in the midst of a time when I was struggling in life; it’s been “my verse” ever since then. I honestly believe that this verse is one of the most beautifully written and spoken verses. In my short 19 years of living, I’ve been through some things that some people might not even think about having to go through. I have thought about the end of things and just giving up and laying on a couch all day everyday and not doing anything else, but I know that God has something major in store for me. I cannot stop no matter what is going on in my life, because the King above all kings knows how my story is going to end. He knows what all I am going to go through in my life and He knows how bright the other side is once I’m out of the darkness, so I put all trust into Him.

I have 29;11 tattooed on my left wrist, and yes it is with a semicolon, not a colon. The semicolon is to represent exactly what it does, a brief pause that connects two things. During life it does not matter what you go through, just keep on going. You can do it. The Lord is not going to hurt you. Sometimes, when you feel like giving up, just take a deep breath and relax then keep on going. Never stop, because then you are stuck in the same place and you’ll never know what you missed out on. The semicolon is that brief pause, to represent the hard times, good times when I wanted to stay in the moment, and even when I think I might be stuck in a state of mind that caused depression and anxiety. The numbers are for the verse, but they also represent my life, how halfway through my journey I keep on going because I will be carried by the Lord in hard times as long as I give it all to Him.

For simple reasons, I love Jeremiah 29:11. It’s the verse that gets me through. This verse lets me know that it’s okay to fail that test, because I’m not stopping right there. This verse lets me know that it’s okay to not get everything correct and perfect the first time or even the first 50 times, because I do not end there. You do not end where you have failed, you end where your story is supposed to stop, and only God knows when that is. The Lord has so much more planned for you. He has bigger plans and a bigger future planned out for you even when you don’t think you could get there. Put your all into Him and He will lead you on His path of His plans for you. God’s plans for you are bigger than the plans you could ever imagine for yourself.