The present, the future and the waiting in-between

I happened to look at a calendar today (which...if you happen to know me is a big deal...because I am not usually one to keep a schedule or, for that matter, know what day of the week it is!) and I was shocked to discover how fast time has gone by. I graduated in December unsure what in the world I was going to do the 4 or 5ish months until the summer. Now, the summer is almost here! I have always been a 'go getter': knowing what I would like to do, making plans on how I could get there, and actively pursuing what I needed to do to accomplish that. For the past year I've felt a steady call to pursue a career in Wilderness therapy...not as a wilderness guide but as a licensed counselor. Within this wide area of work I've discovered a call, as well as a deep passion, to work with teenage girls who have been through sexual trauma. It's a long road a head of me to get to where I'll be able to do this (3 years of a masters program, and a year, possibly 2, of specialty training as a sex therapist) but I am super excited about where God is leading me....and yet....here I am sitting at home waiting. I've applied to graduate school for January...there really is nothing to do but wait...and I constantly find myself impatient and ready to go NOW. However, as God has reminded me many times in my life, I find myself again reminded that if I spend to much time thinking about, and planning the future...I miss the present, and the opportunities he's giving me right now. It is different to be home after 4 and 1/2 years away. I have no friends here, I have no job and one can only re-watch so many seasons of House without wondering..."what AM i doing?" My answer: waiting. God has a reason for having me at home right now. Instead of being impatient that I can't run ahead into the direction he is calling me...i should be grateful, and take advantage of the time he has given me with my family. In only about a month (or 41 days...but who's counting) the summer will be here and I will have the amazing opportunity to serve at Snowbird again. Thinking back on last summer I remember how important it was to take advantage of each day, and the time we had with each of our campers...I wasn't thinking ahead a week to what church I would have, I was completely occupied with the campers I had at that moment, and very aware of the short amount of time I had with them. The same will be true this summer. Why am I not like this everyday...right now for instance? Shouldn't I be taking advantage of the time I have in the present? the opportunities God has given me now? instead of being impatient that it would be time for something else? God has a reason for everything. I prepare for the future how I can now...but the future is in his hands (Jeremiah 29:11). I will go to graduate school (in January if it's his will) but that is not now. Even as i submit and surrender my future to God...I should do the same with the present. The present help prepares us for the future and I should be praying that God would use this time, that I am at home, to strengthen the relationship I have with my family, to show them love, appreciation, and to help me grow in my walk with him.