My husband likes to make an informed decision, which is why he typically takes his sweet time investigating. His research of pros and cons (which he calls “vetting”) comes before his buying decision.

Buying a product is simple in comparison to making life-changing decisions. Do we get married? Are we going to have children? Should I have this surgery? In fact, such life decisions hardly fit the profile of vetting a product, or are we going to google the pros and cons of having children? Are we going to perform a background check on the person we want to marry? It’s not like that at all, but still, we will look for advice when we are smart. We will interview seasoned parents about the aspects of raising children, ask our trusted friends what they think about the person we are dating and regarding the surgery in question we will look for a second medical opinion.

We know that despite all our planning the unplanned still happens and we sail into situations that catch us off-guard. Life is full of surprises. Besides looking for traditional advice we are well-advised to seek God’s counsel since He alone knows the future. On a personal note, my faith has helped me through many bumpy roads, and through it all I have gained a deeper connection with both God and people.

The best way to look at things we have no control over – and we actually don’t have control over a myriad of things – is to trust the Lord’s promise that He has good plans worked out for us. That is why we don’t want to lose hope even though our own plans may have fallen through. We sometimes think we know our purpose – or we haven’t even thought about it yet. The Lord knows each person’s purpose and wants to translate that into reality.

We are all a diamond in the rough. Since diamonds are made of the hardest material in the world, only a diamond can be used to mechanically cut another diamond. Comparatively speaking, the Lord is the diamond who cuts us into shape. It is His desire that we shine. As long or as short our life story may be, it’s meant to be a blessing. Let us not fool ourselves into thinking that we have everything figured out. We need to stay humbly curious and seek the Lord in all matters. It is His pleasure to reveal the plans He has for us and the reason why we are here.