The holidays are behind us and here we are in a new year, 2015. I think the beginning of every new year brings with it the feeling of fresh starts and endless possibilities. However, this year it seems even more pronounced, as so many people in my circle of aquaintance are making huge transitions.

I see young people in my church stepping out in faith and making moves to places they'd never imagined they'd go. I read Facebook updates and newsletters of fellow missionaries who are finishing up their support-raising and booking plane tickets to destinations all over the world. I eagerly await with dear friends for the birth of their children, and rejoice with loved ones for their upcoming marriages.

And as I look down the road of my own twenty-fifteen, I find myself with a brave face, head down, steeling myself for the changes that are about to come my way. In many ways, it's a year of lasts. But, the lasts are giving way to the imagination of so many firsts...

My first night in South Africa. My first South African "home." My first new friend. My first church service. My first driving experience while seated on the right side of a manual-shift car, while on the opposite side of the road. My first tears, my first phone call back to the US, my first thought of "What I have gotten myself into?" And my first realization that it's for real.

There's many I'm excited about, and many I'm equally nervous about. But I heard a message in our church service this morning that crawled into my heart and made a comfy home: being submitted to God's plan for my life is the most fulfilling and rewarding place I could ever hope to be. I have learned that it's dangerous to say "yes" to God sometimes, but it has taken me on a journey I wouldn't trade for anything!

Truly, God has a plan for me in all these lasts and firsts! As I meet with each one, my prayer is that He continues to remind me of this truth so I can walk boldly on the path that's so obscure to my eyes. Because my greatest strength is that it's oh-so clear to Him.