So, what now?

 

As someone who doesn’t generally share personal things with those outside of a small number of close individuals, the idea of starting a blog has been daunting and yet, despite that, here I am preparing to share a bit about me with you, in the hope that it may encourage you as we travel through the exciting, challenging, scary road that is life.

 

I think the best place to start is with the name of the blog. ‘Joyful Sparrow’ was the name a friend and I agreed on for a business idea we had. As Christians, we wanted something that would reference the hope we have knowing we belong to One much bigger than ourselves and a few verses from Matthew 10 came to mind: ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.’ 

 

As someone who can naturally be quite anxious, the comfort and confidence that I find from the knowledge that I am cared for and have worth in the eyes of God is something that I need to be reminded of often, particularly with the changes and challenges that come with life. 

 

This is especially true in periods of waiting. Waiting is a part of daily life – from food to cook, to holidays, seeing friends and, dare I say it… Christmas – we’re often waiting for something, and some of those things are easier to wait for than others: I waited over two years when I was born to have hair, I waited 15 years before I was able to have my ears pierced and there are things I’m still waiting for. When I was younger, I would imagine my future life (I’m not sure why, but I would rarely, if ever imagine beyond this age) and thought I would be settled down with my own family by now. 

 

Waiting isn’t always easy. While I am often content and happy with my circumstances, knowing I am blessed with a loving family, a church I am settled in, a job I enjoy and some really great friends, being faced with the realisation that I’m not where I thought I’d be at this point in my life can sometimes be difficult. 

 

I have passed the age I used to imagine and now what? I feel like I have an open book in front of me and no idea what will happen in the next few pages, let alone the rest of the manuscript. And that’s okay.

 

I can see that I have capacity to do more with other people than I ever would have been able to if I’d have had the life I thought I would have by now. I have more spare time, more flexibility in how I spend that time and more opportunities with which to use it. As much as I am a planner, organising events months in advance, I take heart that, despite not knowing what will happen over the next few months/years (and do we ever really know?), I believe in a God who plans better and much further in advance than I ever could.

 

In fact, the Bible tells us the greatest rescue story of all time – a rescue that was planned from the beginning of the world and culminated in God’s son, Jesus, dying to save us from our sins (the wrong things we do) so we are able to have a personal relationship with Him. And amazingly, all we need to do to accept that rescue is trust Him and turn away (repent) from those bad things.

 

Throughout many books in the Bible, we are shown that God has a plan and a purpose for each of our lives. A verse that is often quoted around this topic is from Jeremiah (29:11): ‘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.’ This promise was given to the nation of Israel when they were living in captivity and, although it isn’t a promise directly to us today and definitely doesn’t mean that life will always be easy (we know it isn’t from our experiences), it is a powerful reminder that we can trust God in even the most difficult circumstances and He will help us through. 

 

As much as I would love to know what the next year (or few!) will hold, I know God made me, formed me and knows what will happen: ‘You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed’ (Psalm 139:16). I don’t want to miss the opportunities that He has prepared for me because I’m distracted by waiting for something that may, or may not happen. I know that God’s plans for me will be better than I could have imagined and I am content with that, even though sometimes it’s hard to let go of my control and trust God’s purpose for my life, which is something I need to constantly work on.

 

Has God come through for me in the past? 100% - several times. Do I have any reason to doubt He will come through in the future? No. Do I need to be constantly reminded of that truth? Yes.

 

And I guess that’s the reason I have started this blog: to write about God’s faithfulness in the next, unknown chapter of my life. A journey that could be more challenging than anything I have faced before but with the sure hope that ‘I am with you always’ (Matthew 28:20).