God’s Plan.

No, not the catchy song Drake put together with a few of his friends. Yes, that line any parent or mentor has used during your adolescence to try and explain why something bad happened to you (cue the part where Mom doesn’t understand what I mean when I tell her that I only love my bed and her and I’m sorry).

Not gonna lie, the concept has both relaxed my fears and also catapulted them to the moon over the years. I was blessed, as we all were, with free will – and yet, I am supposed to confide my trust in a divine intention that I may not even be aware of yet? Usually, my battle with this course of action leaves me cussing out my guardian angel (and anyone else who has to put up listening to me vent) wondering where I went wrong this time.

When I was a senior in HS, I applied immediately to the one school I wanted to attend – Franciscan. My parents went there, I grew up around there, in my mind it was meant to be. Long story short, God absolutely intervened with that idea when I found myself on the phone with the Dean a few months later, because my application had somehow gotten lost in the mix – and they had now accepted too many out of state students for the coming year. Without God’s Plan, I would never have experienced the incredible four years that I had at Belmont Abbey, and for this I am eternally grateful.

As I prepared to graduate college, I did the typical cradle Catholic thing and immediately pondered the idea of saving up for a ring for the girl I had dated throughout undergrad. After all, that was the end game… wasn’t it? The quest for finding love while in school, then getting married and having a few little ones while a career is established? This time, God’s Plan rocked my world in a way I didn’t understand. How could the end result of this be feeling absolutely heartbroken and alone a couple months later, with no real backup plan after putting all my eggs in that basket? Yet once more, without this sequence of events… I wouldn’t know any of the incredible people I met while starting my career in Charlotte, who have influenced much of who I am today.

The latest one… had enough challenges to last a lifetime. No one really learns about the annulment process when you’re raised in the Church, because you rightfully would assume that you shouldn’t need to. However, when it becomes clear that you married the wrong person and that the misunderstanding of what that relationship entailed is too much to overcome, you find yourself meeting with people you don’t know well who now have to pry into every detail of your life in order to properly determine if your marriage was ever valid in the first place. Coming to the realization that something you believed was sacramental really wasn’t… may be the toughest pill to swallow, especially when you have invested all of your time and love into it over the years.

So… yeah. Heavenly Father, these have been incredible tests of my patience, forgiveness, mercy… you name it, I likely believe there isn’t much of it left. I am thankful every day for the opportunities I am given to grow in virtue, and just as often I must remind myself that the journey is just beginning – there are likely several obstacles still waiting for me. It is a gift to have this time to re-discern (not sure if that’s actually a term, but let’s roll with it) what I should be doing with my life in every personal or professional avenue.

Consider a human creation for a moment, The Adjustment Bureau. One of my favorite movies – a plot completely surrounded by a higher power dictating what should and should not happen to each of us. Matt Damon plays this good-hearted fella who simply believes that it is his destiny to be with the woman who captured his heart… no matter what these angels/agents/whoever they say they are think and read in their book. The writers of this movie seem determined to explain to us that human hope can overcome ANYTHING – and in a sense, I believe them. When combined with the greatness and holiness we have been called to, our hope and sacrifice can be resilient against even the strongest forces this world has to offer us.

In conclusion, we should slightly modify the quote of encouragement “let no one stand in your way” that we look to for some motivation, because it is missing the inclusion of a key partner of the journey. Make sure your communication with the Man upstairs remains strong at all times, so that His will can positively impact your efforts in ways you never before thought possible. Trust me – from experience, it is remarkably easier when He is by your side than when He stands in your way.