Just the Beginning

Three years ago, Carli graduated from high school.  In some ways the ceremony, prom events, and vacations that followed, are like yesterday.  It was a time of celebration, family, and stepping out into the future.  I thought I understood what would unfold, in hindsight I had no idea.  Most dramatically foreign to my imagination is the reality that Carli has become a qualified, functioning nurse.  I had no idea on that day three years ago I was watching a new person emerge into the world.
 
Candidly, I do not think Carli understood either.  This is not always a bad thing.  Approaching the future, eyes open, spirit willing, is often the best way to take on the unimaginable.  I doubt she realized how many late nights there were going to be.  I do not believe she understood the pressures she would face.  Yet the realization that she was going to be able to give something back was always there.  Already there is much to remember.  Yet even now, there is still much to come.  Nursing boards are just around the corner.  Vacations, friends, and memories are waiting for her just around the corner.  As big of the steps so far have been, even greater one will follow.
 
I often catch myself bound by yesterday imagination.  I knew what the future was going to hold and I keep my limits within those boundaries.  I understand the options, often closing myself off to anything not on the list.  I even anticipate what others are going to do or say, forfeiting the chance to let the mystery of the moment at hand to unfold naturally.
 
There is so much ahead, for you and for me.  God has a plan, full of wonder, beauty, and awe, that will unfold with our yes.  Divinity’s words are laced with promise and hope.  “You have all this evidence confirmed by your own eyes and ears. Shouldn't you be talking about it?  And that was just the beginning.  I have a lot more to tell you, things you never knew existed.”  (Isaiah 48.6)