For most of my life, I've had absolutely no idea of what God's plan for me was. But through a long time and a series of events, I now know what it is. Well, for the next year at least. There have been many things that have been just too big for me to call them mere coincidences. Bear with me, they all connect.
The first thing happened all the way back in the fifth grade, believe it or not. It was when I decided that I wanted to be in band, and I wanted to play the tuba. I joined the band in middle school in sixth grade, and it turned out I kind of had a knack for the whole music thing.
In eighth grade, I started thinking that maybe music was something that I wanted to do for a living. I enjoyed doing it, and I wasn't too bad, either. Music was really the only thing that I was really good at. I played baseball and a few other sports, but I knew I wasn't anywhere near good enough to play in college, much less make a career out of it.
High school only solidified my theory of Nathan's musical future. I made several state honor bands, where the level of musicianship was at a completely different level than anything I'd ever experienced. And, because of my high school band director, Nick Bidinger, I decided that what I wanted to do was be a music teacher. Now the question was where to go to college?
I visited with three schools that I was serious about attending: Colorado Mesa University, Colorado State University, and the University of Northern Colorado. CMU offered me a scholarship, first chair in their top classical ensembles, and bass trombone in their top jazz band. This was very tempting, but it didn't leave me anything to work for, so I decided to pass. This left me with CSU an UNC. It took me a lot of time and even more praying before I finally choose to go to UNC.
The next couple of events are probably the most critical, although I never knew it at the time. Because I had waited so long to make my decision, there weren't very many dorms open, and I didn't have very many choices. At the time, I was really disappointed, because I had wanted to live close to the music building and around other music majors. But none of those dorms were open, so I decided to live in what was then called New South Hall, on the fifth floor, in room 515. Yes, that specific. And as it turns out, it needed to be.
School started up, and I met all my floor mates, including one Sarah Riddlebarger. I’m not sure if she actually knows how big her role in this story really is, but I suppose she will after reading this! We became friends, as did everybody on our floor. But our friendship continued on after the school year had finished, which didn't happen at all between me and everyone else. We hung out in Breckenridge,
went to some Rockies games (one of which was in the freezing cold rain, but we stuck it out), nerded out over Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and had many convers
ations that didn't make much sense to anybody else. Last June, Sarah told me that she was going on a missions trip called The World Race, and she would be gone for 11 months and going to 11 countries in four continents. I had never heard of The World Race before, and thought it was pretty cool.
But, Needless to say, I was a little Bit bummed. Who was I going to watch lord of the rings and go to baseball games with now?!
Then, in February, we were talking about the different things we had been going through, like me not knowing Then Sarah said to me, "Have you thought about going on the race?"
That started me praying, and looking back. I realized that had one thing in my life had gone differently; I may not have this opportunity. Had I decided to not be in band, or not teach music, or not go to UNC, or not live on in New South Hall, on the fifth floor, in room 515, I wouldn't have met Sarah, and I would have never known about the Race. Then I read Jeremiah 29:11-13. It says:
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."
The first two verses have happened just like they are written. God has steered my life very specifically to get me to this point. He has finally revealed his plan, but only when it was the right time, and after I called out to him in prayer. I cannot wait to find out what he has in store for me as the last verse plays out, as I seek God with all of my heart.
