There is Always a plan.

Have you ever had one of those seasons where you wonder,
Was this what God had planned?

In my early twenties that seemed to be the only question that ever left my lips.

For as long as I could remember I was in love with WaltDisney World.
I dreamed of working there... of making 'magic'.

After my first semester of college I was recruited to work there and that started a five year love affair with the most magical place on Earth.

I was Disney. I ate, slept, breathed it... and as I moved higher in the company I grew more and more excited that I had found the place I belonged. My outgoing personality worked perfectly and as friends and relatives visited me in my 'native land' they would only confirm that.

Yet... was that what God had planned? Sure seemed like it!

Doors seemed to be opening for me at Disney and I was given a coveted Management Internship in the Fall of 2006. Long story short:

Got amazing internship

Couldn't please boss or co-workers 

Started to fail at dream job.

Accusations came against me

Got fired. 

Felt like a massive failure. 

Usually our question of "Was this what God had planned" is when something goes massively wrong or when something we desire takes longer than we think it should to come to pass.

I'm hard pressed to really express the extreme devastation that hit me when I was fired from Disney.

Lame right?

But it had been my dream. I wanted nothing else. I didn't care about getting married. It wasn't even a thought in my mind... I certainly wasn't thinking about kids. All I wanted was that career. I had tailored me entire life and academic career for it. I felt like it was all I would ever be good at and suddenly... I was told I was horrible at it. So horrible I got fired.

Was this what God had planned?!

I know without a doubt it had to be God that I received that internship. Yet, as I failed and lay on my apartment floor crying hoping that Disney would call me with another job (which they did but thats another story, that's where my event planning skills came in...) I couldn't understand how I could have been so wrong...

Did God want me to be a failure? Did He do this to teach me some lesson?

No. God doesn't work like that.
Yet, when we are crying on the floor after a devastating blow... it's seriously hard to remember that fact.

What was the plan in me losing my job and all my dreams?

At the time I was attending an amazing church plant from Metro Life Church in Orlando, Florida. While I didn't go as often as I should have... I met this amazing girl there named Stephanie.

When I dragged my sorry self into church the Sunday after being fired she was there ready for me. Ready with a hug, ready with encouragement... and ready with words from God:

Jessica, I know you feel like you have gone off course

I see you in a boat and the boat has gone down a different path

God is steering the boat. He knows where you are going and he changed your path because you would have missed out on blessings he has for you. Trust Him. He knows where you are going.  

He knows where you are going. 

At the time, I had no idea what she was talking about. I'm almost certain I was thinking,

"Aw thanks... but I have no job and I'm a complete and utter failure at life. That stupid boat is sinking." 

It would be months before I actually understood what God was doing. What plan He had for me that included me losing all my friends, my livelihood and my dream. 

Yet... it did all make sense. There really was a plan.  

In January 2007 I moved back to New Orleans with the intent of finishing my degree and going back to Disney to pick up the pieces of my career. On February 18th, 2007 I attended my church's College Age/Singles Retreat and served on a greeting team with this handsome yet shy older man... named 

Bryan McCarty. 

The rest of that story deserves it's own post for sure but the point is...

It was not my plan to meet a handsome prince and ride off into the sunset.

It was my plan to run WaltDisney World.
(Laugh if you will... but I would have been awesome at it. Maybe...)

Yet, if I would have never gotten fired from that internship... I would have never came back home with my tail between my legs and met Mr. Bryan McCarty.

...you would have missed out on blessings He has for you. 

No matter what season you are going though whether difficult or easy... trying or tempting... sad or happy... Know that when the moment comes and you ask yourself, "Was this what God had planned?" know that no matter what you did/do...

You can never ruin/alter/change or defer God's plan.

It is ALL God's plan.

Even the parts we would rather not talk about. God knew and He cared for us still in those moments.

He forgives us and keeps us on track to all He has planned for us.

Your life... has a Grand and Amazing Plan.
If it weren't true, God wouldn't have said so:

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord       [Jeremiah 29:11-14]

If you are in that season where bumps seem to mar the road more than smoothness know that each of those bumps... though they certainly don't make sense now, they do have a reason.

Sometimes God lets us know that reason. Other times we find out when we meet God face to face.

No matter what... God is Faithful.

Sure... I'm a loser who got fired from the Happiest Place on Earth.

But I'm the wife of a sexy, loving man and the mother to two adorable boys.
Boom. Take that Disney World.

God Bless and Much Love,

 Jessica