Loving God's Surprises

I am a planner by nature: I think it pumps through my veins. Planning creates order in my world, I get a little too excited about it, and spend large quantities of time doing it. I don't remember if I've always been like this, but my first memories of it appear sometime around my sophomore year of college. Ever since then, there's been no stopping me. I think God has really enjoyed this new found hobby of mine as He's always showing me that my plans are silly, and His are better. I fully know, embrace, and appreciate this, but I still like to make plans even knowing this will not actually be the way things go. This being said, Beau and I decided when we got married that we would like to wait about three years before getting pregnant. I also had a certain goal in mind of owning a home before having children. Once we bought our house in August of 2008, I think both of us became instantly ready to start a family. Even though we were more mentally prepared, we said "let's just wait about another year." It was then that we decided we would start "trying" in July of 2009.

Knowing mine and God's history of my plans vs. His, I really didn't get my hopes up that starting a family would happen at all on mine and Beau's timing. Because of this, I decided not to put aside my personal goal of competing in a triathlon. Now fast forward to June of 2009. Beau and I trained for several months for the 'Old College Tri' which took place this past September. I kept saying "I don't want to put my life on hold expecting that we'll get pregnant." I got through three months of training, and finally - rest week! This was the week of the event. I had been waiting on this week for a while as I was physically exhausted from the rigorous training schedule. So the triathlon was on Sunday, and we found out we were pregnant the preceeding Monday! Now I was completely torn. Here I was within less than a week's reach of obtaining a major personal goal of competing in my first triathlon, and now....NOW I find out we're pregnant!! But wait, can I still compete? I sought the wisdom of an array of doctors, and they all said "No. Don't compete, Jill." The reason I spoked with an array of doctors is because none of them were giving me the right answer which was "Yes! Compete! There will be no risk to the baby!" Of course, none had this to say. So here we are, early Sunday morning and it is pouring down rain. I mean pouring, and it's been like this for a couple days. The rain was the perfect excuse for not biking: This was my out.

What I decided to do, and did, was swim, skip the bike, then run. I told everyone I did this because the roads were too wet, and I didn't want to risk my body just for a race. Everyone understood as most competitors didn't even show up for the triathlon at all for this very reason. Beau completed his first tri with flying colors. He did so amazing, and I am so proud of him! I watched nearby and ate a big piece of humble pie...knowing that in 8 more weeks everyone would soon understand my reasoning for backing down from the challenge. So this is the story of how for once, mine and Beau's plans were completely in sync with God's. I had "planned" this time on our agendas not lining up, and for once they did. While the humility of not competing was hard to swallow at the time, I am so thankful for the gift God has given us which is growing in my belly right now!

We can't afford the $50 5x10, so this is obviously the proof. Ha! Here I am running toward the finish line with my friend Kate.