Many Hats

"'Many people will try to give you hats in life. But none of them will fit. They will only make you weary and tired. But the hat I will make for you will fit perfectly. All you have to do is ask.' said the Father."~"A Hat for Ivan" by Max Lucado.

Last night at stayed at the Zedicher's house (for those who don't know my semi current/semi previous pastor's family. They have five little girls and one baby boy). The girls were getting ready for bed so Hannah picked out a story and I read it to all the girls. I read "A Hat for Ivan" by Max Lucado. And as with most children's books I am fairly sure I got way more out of it than any of the girls. The story is about hats, basically the idea of a hat being a job or an identitiy. A young boy was about to get his hat and he was so excited. But on the day he was supposed to get his hat, he actually recieved several hats from many different people. Everyone had a dream for his life. By the end of the day he was simply trying to please everyone by wearing thier hat when he would see them. Worst of all, none of them fit, and he had no idea what hat to wear. They all just made him tired.

This is pretty much my life right now. I am 18. Pretty much the time in your life where you have to "chose a hat". Everyone is handing me thier hat. I am even trying on every hat I can find trying to grab on to what I think is a possible goal for me. But here is the truth. None of them fit. I know that the education I am recieving will help me in the future but honestly... I don't think that it is my hat.

At this point in the story both Ivan and I are so tired. He is constantly changing hats and I am contantly switching majors in my mind. At this point Ivan runs to his father, "The Hatmaker". His father just gives a slight chuckle when he sees Ivan with so many hats. Ivan pours his heart out to his Father and his Father says, "I know that none of the hats fit you. I have a special hat just for you. All you have to do is ask."

Basically all I have to do is ask. God is creating a special "hat" for me with all of my experiences, loves, desires, and even stress tolerances in mind. And thankfully I have been given a glimpse of that hat. God has given me a desire and what I think are the skills to handle it. Unfortunatly it is not a hat I can get for myself. It is not one I can go to college for or anything but here is the deal:

"I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." ~ Jeremiah 29:11

God knows the plans that He has for me. He has very specific plans in mind for me. God wants the best for me and he will give me it. If I follow God and trust him for my hat, no matter how many are thrust at me in the next coming years, He will give me a hat that fits better than I could ever imagine. All I have to do is ask, and wait on Him. God has perfect timing and a perfect plan.