When South Asia Met Allison: Wild Goose Chase!!!!

I feel like my life is one big, never ending wild goose chase. I want to do a million different things. A few days ago I decided after my two years here that I would like to move to New Zealand and work on a farm picking kiwis. I don't know where it comes from. Seriously that is what excites my heart. Should I get my brain checked out? Also, how awesome is this pic. It's was taken by a friend this 4th of July. A little random I know, but how appropriate for this post?

I have so many wild dreams that they don't make sense. It's impossible for them all to happen.
There's a book I like called Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. Here's a little portion of it:

"The Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit...They called Him An Geadh-Glas, or 'the Wild Goose.' Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger and an air of unpredictability surround Him. I think the Celtic Christians were onto something that institutionalized Christianity has missed out on. And I wonder if we have clipped the wings of the Wild Goose and settled for something less-much less-than what God originally intended for us...A part of us feels as if something is spiritually wrong with us when we experience circumstantial uncertainty. But that is precisely what Jesus promised us when we were born of the Spirit and start following Him(John 3:8). Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainties also goes by another name: adventure."

John 3:8 states, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

I by no means think that obeying the Spirit results in a never ending, purposeless goose chase. I do think obedience to the Spirit can take us to places that we never could have imagined. I can think of several people in my life that have said, "I would have never thought I would be living here...but I am" or "I never thought I would marry someone like .... but I did." Those phrases always end with, "And I know that was God's plan b/c ..."

In my life, I've wasted too much time chasing geese that weren't sent from the Big Man. Picking kiwis in New Zealand!!! Seriously, what am I thinking? One of greatest lessons I've learned is that not all of my dreams are God given. I wish they were b/c they seem like so much fun, but them I remind myself of verses like these:

"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. Then when you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 28:11-13

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

He knows what is best for me and you. Sometimes that takes us to foreign countries, or different counties. No one is better. All that matters is that it is His Spirit leading us there. From experience I know that if our plans are spurred by selfish desire, they'll fail. You may be thinking like I just thought, well what about these people who don't follow Him and still seem to be happy and successful? Then, I'm reminded of verses like these, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes...for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous." Psalm 37: 7, 17

Here's a picture of Whitney...She wanted the swan to give her a high 5.