I wonder where I’ll be in a year. If you had told me one year ago what I would be doing today, I never would have believed you.
Okay, scratch that. Maybe I would have. Because a year ago I was sitting in my office, bitter, angry, and heartbroken that my husband hadn’t been rehired at the school we both started working at right after we got married. I felt cheated. Like all of our plans had blown up in our faces and we were looking at a future that wasn’t the one we’d hoped for.
So yes, if you had told me then that a year later I would be sitting in my house, jobless by choice, I might have grinned and looked a little too satisfied with myself.
I was angry in the beginning. Angry because I never realized how quickly it can all change. How fast the things you want and think you need can slip away.
This year I will turn 28. That sounds young to some of you, older to others. Ten years ago I was a senior in high school and soooo ready to get out of my school and town that I could taste it. In a few months we’ll all get back together, comment on how much or how little we’ve all changed. I wonder what they’ll think of me. In my heart, I know how I feel. So far away from that girl who cried the first time she was in her dorm room, lonely and alone in a big new place. Sometimes though I feel like I can reach out and touch her and I know that innocence, that promise of new life and anything being possible is right there. And I wonder what change my tomorrows will bring.
This is my first Five Minute Friday. Glad to be joining in!
Oklahoma girl through-and-through. Writer, aspiring domestic goddess and totalitarian dictator. Taking on the world one carb-induced coma at a time. Co-host of Picture Shows & Petticoats. 
Oh friend, I too, can relate to the feeling of all my plans blowing up in my face. In fact, I am there. What I thought 3-4 months ago isn’t even close to reality today. Yes, how fast it can all slip away… Thank you through your writing that shows we can trust God in that change. So glad to call you friend!!
It’s amazing how, when we look back, we see where God was working even when we didn’t know it. Especially as a wife, God has taught me much about patience and waiting and how He is changing us even in the quiet moments.
I’m glad to find your beautiful blog! Excited to continue reading!
I came across my pile of journals from my tween years and it was an interesting retreat to who I was—and somewhere that girl is still here. It’s a strange and surreal feeling to re-read those. My highschool and college ones are somewhere else…I’ll have to peek in there soon.
Your reunion will be different than mine—mostly because mine was 4 years ago and Facebook hadn’t taken off yet. While we had MySpace it wasn’t the same. People hadn’t really connected yet so it was a bit of a discovery of who we all were 10 years later. Now I think most everyone can communicate if they wanted…it is vastly different and only 4 years have changed that.
That kind of change I don’t care for. However, becoming free of anger is the best change ever. I’ve been there and done that and so thankful to move on. So blessed to stop by from 5MF!
Ohhh yes, you ARE young!
And you WILL go through so many changes in the years to come! ENJOY and SAVOR and KNOW the Lord IS always good! 
I have my 30th class reunion this year!
Disappointments in life… sigh** I try to look at them as opportunities for new beginnings.
Welcome! It’s strange how time and memory and change are all relative. It can seem a lifetime ago when we first graduated or had a baby or moved or married or any other life event and a moment later it can seem as fresh and real as if it just happened. That’s one thing I love about writing, I can trace backwards the emotions and always seem to remember just how it was years later. So maybe, in a year, you’ll be reading this old post and remember it like you just wrote it.
So glad you posted this today. It encouraged me to join in.
It’s amazing how our lives can change so drastically from one year to the next. But God is so good to us through it all – especially when change is a results of being obedient to Him.
Have a great day!
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Elizabeth,
I’m so happy to be a first-timer with you. You did great! I think next time I’ll need to offer up a quick prayer for direction BEFORE the timer dings, and maybe post the picture when I’m done writing. Then perhaps I’ll manage to jot down more than 5 sentences.
I know so well the kind of change you describe here. I’ve learned over the years (and so often, still need reminding), to hold my plans, my future, loosely. God has a way of bringing His plans to fruition no matter how much I dig in my heals.
Nice to meet you and I look forward to seeing you around the FMF community.
Beautifully written. It is amazing how God works in our circumstances, all along. It only takes hindsight to see that He was there, molding us and refining us with fire, preparing us for this moment. Have a lovely weekend!
Found you through Five Minute Friday. Welcome! I’m currently in the midst of my own life implosion, but I know that God is for me, and will work even this for my good. So glad to be able to link up with others all over the place for encouragement and support! It’s amazing!
How fast the things you want and think you need can slip away. So much truth in that, friend. Since getting married and becoming a Mother, I’ve come to realize that even more. Sometimes you really do have to let go of something in order to keep it…realizing that all is His. Yes, all.
And change. I feel like my life is in a constant season of change. Babies turning into toddlers, toddlers into preschoolers. Happy routines vaporized by growing hearts and minds, manifested in disobedient hearts discovering consequences and iyiyiyi. One thing is certain, though, there is One who is the same yesterday, today and forever. The rest is change.
Great post, girl.
I was from Norman and I still cried my first night in the dorms too. Also, the 10 year reunion was fun. Enjoy yours!