Aren’t birthdays great opportunities for a little introspection, some reflection, and a bit of a check-in with yourself? I celebrated my birthday a few weeks ago, and as I was praying that morning, a quote I saw on social media kept coming to mind:

I am so thankful I didn’t end up with what I thought I wanted.

At twelve, sixteen, twenty-one, twenty-five, and all the years in between, I had big plans. I had a checklist of personal and professional goals I was going to accomplish, and I was convinced that one more checkmark on the list, one more trophy, one more success story would make me happy.

I have never been more grateful to be wrong. As I have journeyed into a deeper relationship with the Lord, the lists of goals, desires, and things to do, achieve, and accomplish that I lived and died by have faded. He is refining my heart so what I now want is more of his heart, more freedom, and hands and a heart that are more open to saying yes to whatever He asks of me. Because I have experienced his goodness and tasted his abundance, my life looks nothing like what sixteen- or twenty-one-year-old me thought I wanted; it is richer, deeper, and fuller than I could have ever imagined.

You don’t have to wait until your next birthday for a little introspection and reflection. This weekend, join me in reflecting on how you’ve tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord in your life, and maybe you too will be able to say, “Praise Jesus that I didn’t end up with what I thought I wanted.”