Katie's brother-in-law is an actor currently starring in a play that's part of the Vancouver Fringe Festival. This evening, a group of us went out to cheer him on and support local theater. The play was fantastic, and as I was walking home I had what I like to call a "movie moment" ... one of those moments in life where everything seems just as it should, when all of the pieces seem to fall into place just right, where everything is so picture perfect it's almost as if you're playing a part in a scripted drama.
It had been raining for most of the evening, but by the time the play ended the rain had stopped ... the streets were still wet, though, so you could hear the cars swooshing through puddles as they drove past you and the sidewalks were glistening with the residue of raindrops and the air smelled fresh and clean and spring-like. I was walking along Granville Street and the sound of soft jazz music and conversation and laughter just spilled out of the coffee shops and restaurants. I could see the downtown skyline off in the distance, all lit up like a birthday cake. I was marveling at the fact that I can walk from the theater to my apartment (a dream come true!) and having one of those "wow, I can't believe I live here" moments and when I got to the corner of Granville and 12th Avenue, I just paused to take it all in.
I live here. I live here, in beautiful Vancouver. And not only do I live here, but I love living here. And not only do I love living here, but I love the life I get to live here.
And do you know what hit me, as I was standing there on the corner of Granville and 12th? This beautiful life that I am currently living ... this life of "movie moments" ... this life would never have come to be if I had not listened to that still, small voice inside of me nudging me to venture west instead of east. God made it very clear to me that Vancouver was where He wanted me to be, and so I came obediently. And that obedience had led to moments and experiences and blessings that have completely transformed my life in ways I never would have imagined.
I am really humbled by the reality that this life that I am blessed to be living & that I love so much was none of my doing. I didn't plan this. I didn't choose this. This was not the life I thought I wanted. My plans, my dreams, my goals, my ambitions ... they were all scattered somewhere between Times Square and Central Park in the hustling bustling cosmopolitan empire that is Manhattan.
I'm reading a fantastic book right now by an incredible woman named Elisabeth Elliott. In one of the chapters she talks about how, contrary to popular belief, she feels that being single is a gift that should be cherished. She writes: "Having now spent more than 41 years single, I have learned that it is indeed a gift. Not one I would choose. Not one many women would choose. But we do not choose gifts, remember?"
That line has stuck with me ever since I read it - we do not choose gifts.
Standing there on that street corner, I realized that I did not choose this life, but it was chosen for me. When I first moved here, I moved with a sense of obligation ... a sense that this was "Plan B" ... but now, just a few months shy of a year later, I know for a fact that my life in Vancouver was a gift from God to me. This is the life I need. This is the life I was made to live. This is the life that will make me happy. This city, this job, this ministry, these friends ... this is my purpose. This life is a gift and I am so incredibly privileged to have been given it. It may have been my Plan B, but it was never (not for a minute!) God's Plan B.
Thank you so much, Lord, for the amazing life you have given to me.
Privileged. That's what I am. ♥
