where i've been and where i'm going

my room is a constant work in progress. it has been for the last four years. since i am now living at home - not moving back and forth from college - i have gotten some things done, things i have been thinking about for a long time.

i received a gift last christmas from a friend who knows me well. it was a large map of the world and it came with pins to mark the places i've been and the places i am going to.

until tonight, that map looked like this on my wall.



and i finally had the supplies i needed and the drive to make it look like i've always wanted it to look.

final product.



you may not be able to see it from the picture but there are green dots marking where I have been and pink dots marking my upcoming World Race trail. as i look at them, i notice that they are on two sides of the world. i have been mainly to north, central and south america, with one trip to africa. i am going to new zealand and australia, asia, africa and eastern europe. it dawns on me that these are places i know nothing about. the world looks both big and small to me as i sit here on my bed and stare at this map. i can't pick one or the other.

but no matter how big and how small the world is, i feel safe right now. because i know this, God is guiding me in this world. he has guided where i've been and he is guiding where i am going. simply put, he is in control and with me no matter where i am. sitting here staring at this map or traveling it, he is with me.