Safe.

For me, lessons on patience are never lacking. I have the tendency to do things myself without any one's help and I try to accomplish things as fast as I can. And this summer when I felt God moving me to give up something I loved, and to trust in His plan I became uncertain. I wanted control of my life. I felt that I knew what was best for me. I had high school planned out. I thought uncertainty would come with college. I had a plan, and I planned to stick to it, but God thought different. I couldn't let go of it myself because frankly that made me feel like a quitter. And that was a stumbling block for me. I didn't want to give in or give up like I had seen so many people do. I had vowed to myself that I would never quit.

So many times I heard God's voice telling me to run, but I didn't see any need to. Finally, thanks to my mom, I began to see just how much I needed to let go. But that would require trusting God. For me, trusting God was easy to talk about, but actually doing it, was scary. This was a new thing for me. I'd never looked at an upcoming school year with a question mark, but that's how it appeared. My safety net was gone. I had defined myself for so many years as an athlete. But now, I wasn't even sure what I was. But the beauty of that moment was the fact that I couldn't define myself by any one thing anymore. I was finally and completely God's. And it took me awhile to realize that.

My Sunday school teacher had told us all year long that God requires us to first step out in faith and once and only once we step out do we receive the rewards and confirmations. My first confirmation came exactly two days after I called my coach and let her know that I wouldn't be playing basketball anymore. I finally knew then that God wasn't going to let me go. I was safe in His arms. Forever.

God always uses the most unlikely things to get our attention. For me, He needed to take away an activity. And at the time it seemed harsh and painful, but like all good parents He had my best interest in mind.