Thank you for my broken heart:

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

Now that I'm married, it's fun to reflect back on how I spent Valentine's Days Past:

1. Girls Night Out...no men allowed.  
2. Watching a romantic film, crying my eyes out, and realizing much too late that it's not wise to watch a romantic love story when you are all alone on Valentine's Day.
3. Interesting dates with some not so interesting dudes.  
4. Valentine's Day coffee house at college with friends

The list goes on and on...and every season of life reflected a new way to celebrate this incredible, awful, amazing and dreaded day.  It's a day that brings on so many mixed emotions.  For some- elation and joy.  For others- depression and isolation.  It's amazing how fixating on love for one day a year can cause so many people to feel so many different things. 

I, for one, am beyond joyful this Valentine's Day.  Married to the man of my dreams and more and more in love everyday, I take this day as an opportunity to really thank God for love- and for the love he's allowed me to experience here on earth.  But please, don't gag and stop reading just yet...because I wasn't always at this place. 

Today, as I look back at my life, I thank God for every Valentine's Day past...even the lonely ones, the confused ones, and the miserable ones.  I look back and praise Him because I know that no matter what the season of my life, He was right there by my side, and His plans for my future were as sure as ever...even though I was clueless to those plans at the time. 

I look back and thank Him for the broken hearts, the rejection, the relationships that fell through, the confusion, and even the moments of feeling alone...because each one of those seasons shaped me and prepared me for that which was to come. Each one bid me to draw closer to Him. 

My only regret is that I wish I would have felt this gratitude back then.  If only I could have seen His plans unfold and get a glimpse into the future that He had for me...a future that sometimes seemed so far away, so ambiguous, and so discouraging...if only I had known, I could have trusted...

It's easy to be grateful looking back.  I wish it was easy to be grateful when looking ahead.

Whatever your struggle today, whatever feelings you may be carrying around with you, however bleak your future may seem....be reminded that He really does have a plan for you.  A plan to prosper you, a plan to love on you, a plan to give you hope and a future. Draw strength from that.  Find joy in that.  Have peace in that...and learn to walk in gratitude, in faith, and in hope. 

For those who are in Christ Jesus there is no doubt and infinite guarantee that your future carries hope...rest in that knowledge today.