If you want to hear God laugh...

The lovely Elizabeth at That Married Couple had a great idea for a post a few weeks ago. She wrote of the things she planned for in the past that probably made God laugh.

I've had some pretty grandiose plans in my day. Such big plans! My goals, my dreams! I've made the Lord God slap his Almighty Knee a time or two.

Age 15: For a college prep program we had to write our long term and short term goals. Some of my long term goals included: Going to medical school to become a pediatrician. Live in New York City for awhile. Meet Mr. Right and get married. Have 5-7 kids. Move back to Maryville, MO and start up my own pediatric clinic.

Age 16: Those big time dreams folded when I started dating my high school sweetheart. All that was on my mind was graduating high school, going to college and marrying said high school sweetheart and having babies.

Age 18: I did end up graduating high school but said high school sweetheart had broken up with me a year earlier. Was dating another guy (we'll call him Mr. Right #2) who I was certain I was going to marry. Well... I broke up with him shortly after I started college. Went to CMSU in hopes of getting into a sorority and finding a nice fraternity boy to date/marry and start having babies. I was majoring in theater.

Age 19: I was at CMSU a little over a month when I dropped out. I dropped out on my birthday. My plans were to work at a factory and earn enough money to move out to Los Angeles to pursue my dreams of becoming an actress. (That one made God laugh the hardest, I'm sure. It sure made my mom laugh pretty hard when I told her.)

Age 19: Started working an evening shift at a hospital doing housekeeping, laundry and maintenence. Got back together with Mr. Right #2. Started making plans on moving in together and looking at engagement rings.

Age 19: Mr. Right #2 breaks up with me. I plan on winning him back by acting all sexy and hard-to-get.

Age 19: My attempts at winning Mr. Right #2 don't work.

Age 20: Start my second try at college at Northwest Missouri State University. I plan on studying hard to become a high school history teacher. I also plan to find the REAL Mr. Right and start having babies with him.

Age 20: Stop going to class a few weeks into the semester. Get drunk a lot with my roommates, play Sims 2, and participate in a lot of hoochie mama-ness.

Age 20: Meet Mr. Right #3. He was just what I was looking for. Handsome, small town, farm boy. Catholic. Liked to hunt and fish. Became great friends with his sister (still great friends today!) I (not he) started planning on getting married and having babies. I drop out of college because I know I failed all my classes.

Age 20: Mr. Right #3 breaks up with me. Fall into a pit of major debauchery. On the look out for Mr. Right #4. Get together with a lot of potentials, but they all break my heart.

Age 20: Meet Mr. Right #4. He's another farm boy. Make plans to become a farmer's wife and stay at home with our future babies. In the meantime I apply to become a customer service manager at Wal-Mart.

Age 20: I don't get the customer service job. I get frustrated with life and on a whim move to Atchison, KS to go to nursing school. Mr. Right #4 breaks up with me because of the distance.

Age 21: When I move to Atchison I meet my neighbors- J and E, who were students at Benedictine College. They take me some homecoming get togethers and plant the seeds of becoming a student at Benedictine. I never really get the motivation to apply to nursing school.

Age 21: Start Benedictine in the 2006 spring semester. I plan on majoring in theology and finding Mr. Right #5- for REALLY REAL REAL this time.

And for once... this plan actually came to fruition! Except he was no small town farm boy. He grew up right in the heart of Kansas City. He was my best guy friend before we started dating so I really had no plans of getting romantically involved with him. I wasn't actively looking for Mr. Right. I'm really glad God changed that plan to how it is today!

Age 24: After graduation and our wedding I planned on finding a job teaching theology or youth ministry in the Kansas City area.

Age 25: Still no luck finding a job, keeping busy as a homemaker in Middle-of-Nowhere, MO.

Age 25: Get pregnant for the second time after my miscarriage. Plan on having a smooth, healthy pregnancy and a drug-free vaginal birth.

Age 25: Develop severe pre-eclampsia. Go through a 2 day failed induction. Have a c-section.

Age 26: Hope and pray that Ryan gets a job in Kansas City. Ryan finally does get a job in Kansas City. Plan on staying with his parents for a couple of months to save up some money to move out on our own.

Age 27: Seven months later I am still living with my in-laws waiting for the next step. I have no clue what that is and I don't even have a plan in my head for God to laugh at.

I remember being very disappointed when my plans would never go through. What was so wrong with my plans? They were very basic and simple. They were what most people wanted- to get married, get a job, have children. Why wasn't it happening the way I wanted it?

The answer is simple- because the "way I wanted it" sucked. God's plans are oh so much better than mine. What would my life be like if I would have married some fraternity guy? What would my life be like if I would have gotten that customer service job? I wouldn't be where I am now. I wouldn't have my real Mr. Right- my best friend, my soul mate. I wouldn't have my son. My goodness... I can't imagine my life without them.

God knows best. God's time is best. It can be frustrating and discouraging at times not knowing what is going on. But looking back you can always see God's hand in your life and how he has made everything the way it is supposed to be: simply awesome.