Annnndd the countdown begins

88. The number of keys on a piano. The atomic number of radium. The speed in mph that the DeLorean time machine must reach to travel in time.

Also, the number of days until I reach the end of one chapter of my life and turn to a fresh page. Eek. The dramatic life change that lies ahead is both daunting and ridiculously exciting. It doesn't seem real yet, although it does more so each day as various pieces begin to fall into place.

It's funny to look back over the last few years and the incredible journey on which God led me to this place. I have struggled since entering the 'real world' after DBU, never quite knowing where I was heading in the long run. I could see right in front of me, but it was the kind of sight that comes from a dim flashlight in the dark woods - never reaching much further than a step or two away. I didn't know that the first interview I went on after graduation would lead to a six-year stint in a school business office. I didn't know that I would pursue graduate work in music theory, and didn't know that I would ever be satisfied with a decision not to complete that work. I didn't know that I would attend over 25 weddings, none of them my own. I didn't know that I would become "Aunt Fi/Tia/Auntie Adrianne" to nearly a dozen (and counting!) of some of the cutest kids in the world. I couldn't see 5 trips to England or two weeks in Japan. I couldn't see having an amazing church home and playing in a band with some of the most talented musicians in Texas. I couldn't see the friends that would become closer than family.

And I most certainly couldn't see the latest turn: acceptance into one of the top nursing programs in the state. A career change of epic proportions, yet one that strangely makes sense.

Many years ago, one of the leaders of a small Life Group I was attending approached me during our prayer time and told me that, while she didn't know why, I should read Psalm 139. It seemed really odd to me at the time, but I went home and read it. At that point in my life, it just seemed like a nice verse. However, I placed a special bookmark at that page and continued to revisit it every now and then. Over the course of the years, it has become something of a life passage for me. I read it often, and it has spoken directly to certain events in my life. One of the verses particularly resonates with me in this season:

Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
(Psalm 139:4-5)

While I may not see where I am going, I rest in the comfort that God does. He has "hemmed me in" and knows exactly what lies ahead. He has brought me this far, and I am excited to see where He takes me next.

How is God working in YOUR life today?