Where are your eyes?

Yesterday I went to Ludington State Park to have orientation for being a lighthouse keeper in August.
I had to wake up and be on the road by 6 and drive over there, arriving before 8:30. The morning was full of learning about the organization, procedures, a little CPR/First Aid training, and then question and answer time.

They provided lunch, and then we car pooled back to the Big Sable Lighthouse. We were able to tour the keepers quarters, shop in the giftshop and climb to the top of the lighthouse. As I was let in to climb the tower there was a girl who works for the organization. The guy who let me in said she was afraid of heights and I should help her. So, just meeting for the first time I encouraged her that she could do it. As we began the climb it became obvious that she had a severe fear of heights and kept wanting to look down. I looked and right above the handrail was a painted black line the whole way up where it was separating 2 colors of paint. I told her to keep her eye on the black line and she wouldn't be as tempted to look down. We made it to the half way point and she was excited. I reminded her to keep her eyes on teh black line. We climbed another flight and she declared it was the farthest she had ever made it at that lighthouse. She was a little scared, but I reminded her to keep her eyes on the black line. Another flight or two later and we were on a level that had a solid bottom and not the grate that you can see through. She was able to look down and see solid ground below her and with a little more encouragement from me and the others around us she climbed the last flight of steps and made it to the top of Big Sable for the first time ever. I went out and walked around the top of the light while she moved opposite the door to outside and literally clung to the wall. Another woman found stickers that said I climbed to the top of Big Sable and started handing them out. A man who also had a fear of heights and knew the work it took for the girl to make it to the top and what an accomplishment it was told the lady to give the girl one with the back still on it for a scrapbook or just to keep. On the way back down, she turned around and went down backwards with her eyes to the top. Slowly but surely she made it to the bottom. As we came out into the giftshop the guy who told me to help her asked if she made it to the top. With a proud smile on her face she said she had and that she couldn't have done it without me and the reminders to keep her eyes on the black line.

After climbing the tower they split up into groups based on which of the 4 lights the people would be working at. I stayed at Big Sable because that is where I'm assigned to volunteer. We got a more in depth tour and watched a video we will show and were told some more of what we would be expected to do. They drove us back out to our cars and I headed home.

I had taken my sticker off and put it on the steering wheel of my car. As I was driving it caught my eye and I thought about the girl I had helped climb to the top of the lighthouse. The only way she was able to make it to the top was by keeping her eyes up and watching the line. Had she looked down she would have gotten scared and quit like she had all the other times she had tried to climb it. I think that is similar to my life as a Christian. As long as I keep my eyes on Jesus and have people in my life to remind me and encourage me in my walk with him, I'm fine. However, when I forget He is there to help me and has brought me this far, I look down it gets scary. Like most children growing up I had a plan, even into high school and college I thought I knew where my life was going. You know, go to college, meet a boy, graduate, get a job, get married, teach a few years, have kids stay home and raise them, then go back to work when the baby goes to school. That is a good plan, and it is one that many people will live out(or something similar to that). However, it wasn't the plan that God has for my life. Instead, he has me on this incredible journey. I went to college and graduated debt free because he provided. I joined the Peace Corps and had a successful 2 years of service in Thailand. I loved it so much that I'm planning to go back in September. I have been given 6 months to be home. I didn't think I would get a job while I'm home, and yet he provided one out of the blue that for right now I'm working 40 hours a week. Since I've been home I've had constant reminders of people who have been praying for me and I'm so blessed to have them in my life encouraging me on this path I never thought I would be on.

If I take my eyes off Jesus and look down life could get scary. I'm 25, single, working a part-time job until I go to work in Thailand where I will earn a Thai volunteer size income. However, if I keep my eyes on Him I realize all that I have, an amazing support system, the opportunity of a lifetime to love on children who may never have never experienced love before. I'm debt free and have money in the bank "just in case." I can afford to be generous with my time and money and invest in people's lives. I know God has a plan for my life even though I'm not sure what it is right now. If I look down I'll realize that I'm a long ways from where I was expecting to be at this time in my life. However, I'm a lot closer to Him and if I keep my eyes on Him maybe, just maybe someday I'll reach the place He has planned for me and it will be thousands of times better than where I was headed on my own.

Today I ask you, Where are your eyes? Are they looking up or down? Are you going to make it to where he has planned for you or are you going to settle for your own plans? I hope that you aim for His plans, that you will feel the joy and accomplishment of following Him like the girl who made it to the top of the lighthouse yesterday.