unordinary

I didn’t expect any of this.
 
I didn’t expect that my world would be wrecked. I didn’t expect that my desires would change so much. I didn’t expect that God had big and crazy plans for my life afterwards. I just expected to go to another country and see God work like I had not seen Him work at home. Well training camp changed all that. God showed up, healed me, and captivated my heart.  He started rocking my world and He hasn’t stopped.
 
In my head, America was not a mission field but I went home and God came with me. He healed and He moved like I never expected. He showed up and started to show me that He didn’t just work in third world countries. He did some crazy stuff in the six weeks I was home before my squad left in September.
 
Then God started showing me all the things that could be done at home through the things I was seeing during ministry in Honduras. One day, out of the blue, He put it on my heart to start a rape and battered women and/or teen pregnancy ministry. All of a sudden, I was so excited and filled with so much passion to do something at home…something that my family and friends at home could have a hand in starting.
 
An out of the ordinary spirit driven ministry in what I used to consider an ordinary place.
 
As I started praying about doing this God put it on my heart to email my childhood best friend, Molly Baker, about the idea. It was totally random and I didn’t have any idea why God was telling me to tell her. I started and finished that e-mail, “ I have no idea why I’m telling you this, but God told me too, so…” Well sure enough Molly emailed me back and said, “I know exactly why God told you to email me…” She went on to explain everything and why it made so much sense that God would give us this idea to start a ministry together right in Columbus, Georgia.
 
I had so much peace and faith that God wanted me to go home and start this ministry. He even took me home for a week to show me a glimpse of what life would look like when I was back. He reassured me that no matter where I am He is going to be there with me and that He is never going to stop being an adventurous and exciting God.
I thought I had it figured out. I thought I would go back to Columbus, get a job, go to school like I had planned, and ya know, work on starting a ministry.
 It sounded good to me but it also sounded good and normal to everyone else. Ha-ha. God had and will always have a better plan than me.
 
“Do you trust Me, Carly?”
“Yes, duh, of course, I trust you God.”
 
I stood in worship as God asked me a simple question. I gave him an answer that I mean from the bottom of my heart. Yes I trust You. Now what are you about to tell me? I guessed some and then stopped. A good 20 minutes later He said loud and clear…
“Do not go to school.”
“Uh Uh, what??? NO. No. no. That’s not what I am supposed to do God.”
 
I started to freak out a little bit. Samantha immediately looked at me and asked what was wrong with me. I didn’t want to say it because I still felt like I was going to throw up at the new plan, His plan not mine. I finally spit it out and burst into tears.
 She said “Carly, why are you upset? You didn’t really even want to go to school?”
“but, but, yeah I did because that’s normal and that’s safe and that’s comfortable. That’s what I am “supposed” to do with my life.”
 
I quickly realized that was only what I thought I wanted because that was what the world wanted me to do. It would make people happy for me to get a college education. I was putting my trust in school because it sounded normal and seemed right.
 
Well, news flash, God has other plans.
 
He doesn’t want me to have a back up plan.
He wants to be my only plan.
He doesn’t want me to put my trust in anything other than Him.
He wants to be the ONLY thing I have to cling too.