Everything in your life leads to THIS.

And I mean everything. Our lives are so complicated, so intricate, and such convoluted networks of lessons and let-downs, opportunities and opposition. Everything that happens through each and every moment contributes to your sense of self, your understanding of the world, and the application of your faith. None of it makes any sense until it does. That is, if we're lucky to get to that point where some of the dots start to connect together!

I often refer to life and the coming together of struggles as a mountain range. At the top of each hill or each peak, we get a peek into where we've come. We can marvel at the faithfulness of God to help us up that incline -- then turn and pray for the same assistance going forward, because of course there's another hill ahead, and we cannot tell how far or high it goes over the swirl of terrain and weather.

My goal with this analogy -- and the reason why I return to it over and over again -- is to bring seasons and occurrences of life into perspective. I gain a lot more gratitude and endurance when I appreciate the journey behind. Although dwelling on the past can be damaging, considering it sometimes prepares us for the journey ahead. The more I start to patiently untangle the knots in the yarn (a process that happens slowly with diligent attention), the more continuous yarn I have to work with, and the more excited I am to proceed with the project. Especially if it's God's project in me.

Ecclesiastes 7:8-14 (NIV) says, "The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions. Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing, and benefits those who see the sun. Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it. Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future." I don't know if reflection into all of the works of your life necessarily leads to wisdom, but it does help provide perspective, which is a good step forward. God may also give us a sense of where we're going in life through the preparations of our pasts. Even events and moments that aren't "church-y" can lead us forward in how we interact and minister with others.

Let me offer a few examples:

I learned how to knit because of a joke. I fell in love with it, developed a knack for it, practiced for a year or so, then made some comments about how I needed more yarn. Three people stepped up almost immediately to provide me with bags and boxes of yarn that they did not need. I thought that was pretty cool for a few months, making dozens of projects without spending money on materials, thinking I could make money off what I made. But then I was talking to three girls who did not have hats. Some impulse came over me and I marched them to my room and invited (perhaps even demanded) each of them to choose one I'd had the original intention to sell. I made those hats from that donated yarn, from those skills I'd practiced, from those knitting classes I'd originally taken, and in that moment of giving I thought, This is the moment everything leads up to.

I chose to come to Nebraska Wesleyan University, agreed to a roommate because of some Snapchat conversations, hung out with her because we were roommates, went through a trying time in my personal life/our friendship, and now we encourage one another as sisters in Christ rather than just two college pals. I can't imagine living without such a relationship, without all of the relationships I've built at this college. And when there are confessions to be made or traumas to unravel, I think, These are the moments everything led up to.

I went through middle school and early high school with a low sense of self-worth and a desperate dependence upon my friends, lost sight of God, yearned for my life to have purpose, and then went on a mission trip because my parents forced me to. It hit me that the other Christian teenagers serving beside me had the very things I wanted for myself -- particularly unconditional love. I'd been searching for that everywhere without ever finding it in a sermon! It brought me back to Jesus. Years after recommitting my life, I look back while saying "I love you" to my friends, proving I care with my time, writing a devotional, and I think, What other things in my life are leading up to this moment?

It's very easy for me to get too deep inside my own head, but I'm certain that the good times and the bad times, the secular and the sacred, are all tools placed into our toolbox of life. And, if we reflect on them, we'll be better off for it. There's value in understanding how those little tendrils in our lives work; in knowing what's been accomplished in you and what you're working with; in assessing how my own blessings can bless others, how my own struggles can bless others, how the menial moments in the meantime can bless others. Attempting to find a sign within everything will set your head spinning like a record, but appreciating the path from whence you came increases wonder about our Creator's incredible plan. God works even when we don't see it. If something doesn't make sense now, keep walking up the next hill -- there you may get the perspective you need. And, once you get to the top of the mountain at the end of your life, you'll finally get the full bird's-eye view.

Until then, in all the moments in between, remember this: Everything in your life leads up to THIS. Through every class, conversation, work shift, and creative thought you encounter, you are uniquely equipped by God for it. Perhaps some of our wisdom indeed comes from His work in our lives. In which case, don't waste whatever this moment is.