Never Will I Ever

It was Thanksgiving break my junior year of college when I first mentioned something about Mark Jones to my mom. She perked up a little and asked, "Who's Mark Jones?" "Oh, nobody Mom. He's just like, my best friend at school right now." The first words ever out of my mother's mouth regarding Mark were as follows, "Be careful who your best friend is, Shell. We marry our best friends." I rolled my eyes and quickly informed her that she had no idea what she was talking about. "I would never marry that boy! We're absolutely just friends!" On July 19th we will be married for seven years, and best friends for almost ten.

From that time to this, there have been a lot of things I said I'd never do that I ended up doing. Not illegal or immoral things, mind you, just things that I was personally against for one reason or another. As it turns out, while I was playing Never Will I Ever, God was playing a little game called Wanna Bet?

Here's a list of a few of the major things that spring to mind that I said I'd never do:

Never will I ever ...

... move back in with my parents after college. I did, for eight months to save up for our wedding.

... live in my old home town. The first house Mark and I bought was less than three miles from the house I grew up in.

... move to Orange County. We moved out of my home town and straight to Orange County. We even bought and sold (just in time, thank God) a house there.

... attend a "mega church". The place that I thought would be so anonymous and impersonal was actually the place where we built some of our most enduring friendships.

Over the course of the last few years, God has repeatedly challenged my preconceptions, presumptions and prejudices to prove that He had a lot better plans for me than I did. I looked at my own circumstances and the circumstances of others and set about preempting problems by deciding not to do certain things. But I just don't have the same perspective on my life as He does.

I watched several friends here in snow country cart teeny babies around in the winter time, slipping on ice and bundling them against the cold wind. I quietly whispered to my husband, "Let's never have a baby in the middle of Winter."

So it was more with amusement than surprise that I discovered a couple of months back that we're expecting our second. Due, of course, on December 28th. But the farther along I've gotten into this pregnancy, the more I've realized that the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

So I'll never second guess the Man with the Plan again.

Wanna take any bets on that?