Often times, I find myself planning my future. I go into the greatest details like what color scheme I'll use for my wedding and where I want my dream home to be, what I want my children's names to be, and even the silliest things like how I will decorate my home when I do have children. The thing about that is, there's nothing wrong with wanting all of these things, but in the grand scheme of things, it's the Lord's will and plans for me that will prevail, not my own. Here are a few ways the Lord has shown me he has greater plans for me than the wonderful ideas I had for myself.

1. When I began going to the church I am a member at now, I was only going because my aunt made me.

If I stayed at her house on a Saturday night, I better bring "church clothes" because I was going whether I wanted to sleep in or not. And if I didn't bring my own clothes, she picked an outfit from her closet, laid in out on the bed, and said, "Here, wear this." Luckily, we had very similar taste in style, so it wasn't like I was wearing something I felt horrible in. When my plans were for me to sleep in and not go to church, the Lord's plan was for me to go, and he used my aunt to get me there. Little did I know, I would fall in love with the church and the members of it.

2. When my boyfriend moved two hours away to another school, my heart was broken and though I didn't want to leave my own family, I wanted to be where he was.

When he moved away, we had only been dating about three months, but I was already head over heels and a long-distance relationship is not how I imagined the perfect relationship being. As the first semester slowly came to an end and he came home for Christmas break, I realized how much God had been working in my heart. The long distance thing is hard, don't get me wrong, but the excitement and happiness I felt when he was home for five weeks were feelings I couldn't compare to anything I'd ever felt before. The distance taught me to appreciate the time I was given with him. We are now in our fifth semester of this long-distance relationship, and though it is extremely difficult at times, I am forever grateful that the Lord kept us both where we were meant to be.

3. When my best friend moved off to the same school my boyfriend was at, my heart broke again.

I thought after the first year of a long-distance relationship that my heart was at peace. But, when my best friend moved away too, I began planning to move to the same school the following year. A long-distance relationship and a long-distance friendship were two things that made me feel helpless and alone. My other best friend that still lived in my hometown was planning to move with me, and we planned out what apartment we would live in, how we would split groceries, we shopped for household things to stock up on for the move, and everything was turning out perfectly. My parents told me I had to have a certain GPA for the semester to go, and I met that standard. A couple months before we were for sure deciding to go, my friend was given a job offer that would change her life, and decided she would stay here at home. After praying for weeks about it, I decided I would still go. When it was almost time for me to have to make a final decision, I hadn't found a roommate yet. I decided to give up on moving and stay home. My heart was broken yet again, but the Lord was working in my heart.

4. When I began praying for the Lord to give me peace, he shook me to my core and laid something huge on my heart.

For months, I had felt very led to missions. I had never been on a mission trip, but it was slowly becoming a stronger desire. Serving ministries that supported missionaries were very close to my heart and anytime our church began to work with one of these ministries, I wanted to be involved as much as possible. A few days before our youth group left for the SOAR Conference in Dallas, Texas, I texted my church mentor and told her what the Lord had laid on my heart and how I had been praying about it and what she said was, "The first thing to remember is that God equips those he calls. Follow him no matter the cost, and sometimes we have to lose to gain, but anything we gain in Christ is a life well lived." When we got to the SOAR Conference, the focus was on missions. The speaker told us there were four ways to get involved: go, send, welcome and mobilize. He read us a scripture in the Bible where God called all of his followers to missions. (Matthew 28:18-20). He said we are all called to pray, but we are also called to be involved in one of the other four ways mentioned. At this conference there are four sessions, and during each of the sessions I felt God pulling me to surrender, but I was too afraid of failing him or making the wrong decision. On the second night, during the third session, I made the move and surrendered my life to missions. I was afraid, nervous, excited, and had so many other feelings all jumbled together. I was so overwhelmed and my mentor went to a quiet area and prayed with me. The peace that I felt was unexplainable.

5. When I returned from the SOAR Conference, I met with my mentor, pastor and pastor's wife and we talked about me being in charge of planning missions-related events and ministries within our church.

My pastor and his wife have experience as missionaries and assured me that they would be there for me and help me with anything I needed throughout this new journey in my life. As many of my fellow church members came to me asking if I was still planning to move away, I got to share with them the opportunity and new responsibility that I had been given within the church. Within this position, I have presented our church with opportunities to serve missions from in the church and scheduled for a missionary to come speak to our congregation. I have also signed up to possibly go on my very first mission trip in the summer of 2017. The Lord is using me in big ways by me staying home where his plan truly was for me, not two hours away where my people were.

6. When I felt like the Lord was calling the people close to me away, he led others to me right here at home.

About a month ago, my church mentor started a girls bible study held at her house once a week. In this group are high school and college-aged girls who are all in pursuit of being a Proverbs 31 woman. We named our group 31 because of our hearts desire to be more Godly women. These girls are girls I've known my whole life or met in the church, and one of the girls is one that I go to the same university with and had never met. This group has brought such Godly friendships into my life and blessed my heart each and every week. Together we are learning to follow the Lord's plans for us and serve others in the process. We recently adopted a little girl from Ethiopia and are taking up an offering each week to support her and her family. The love that is shared for each of these girls in my group is something I cherish and am so thankful for.

There are so many other ways the Lord has taken my own selfish desires and plans for myself and turned them around to bless me even bigger, these are just some of my favorites. And, fun fact, all of these blessings have happened within the last three years of my life. I am forever thankful for the God I serve that always has a better door for me to open. I heard a quote once that said, "Consider the fact that God closed the door because you are worth more than what was behind it." This is something that I am reminded of every day. Even when I believe I have the best plans for myself, my almighty God always has something better in store for my life. A prayer that I pray daily is Matthew 6:10 that says, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Never, ever forget that God is in control. You can make whatever plans you want for yourself, but his plans will always prevail.

Thy Will - Hillary Scott