My summer in Bryce taught me that while searching for God’s long term plan, I can’t forget that God is also using each passing moment to bring joy, peace, and growth into my life and the lives of those around me. I learned that life-changing memories don’t happen in units of weeks or days or years, but in moments. This is how we tell time to ourselves when we aren’t forced to express things in the standard units everyone else will understand.

There were many times when I was too focused on planning my future when I should’ve been looking around me and learning as much as I could about the people in front of me. Or, another way of thinking about it, so often I think ‘I will find real joy once I can accomplish x,’ or ‘God will be able to use me best when I have y and z qualifications.’ But each moment is precious in increasing our joy and our work for God’s kingdom.

I learned to evaluate my life more in terms of ‘where do I see God working in this moment? what is he offering to me, or asking me to learn/see/do?’ rather than in terms of ‘how is this getting me closer to the big picture plan I think God has for my life?’ I am not an organized person.

I don’t like schedules, and I don’t like plans. Furthermore, I am only human. God’s big picture plan for my life is too much for me to see, and sometimes thinking about it can be stressful, or even maddening. But I can see God’s movements in little moments. If I spend enough time reflecting, sometimes I can see how His movements connect, and sometimes, if I’m lucky, they make little arrows in the sand that show me which way to turn next. But I learned to accept the gifts that are given to me in each moment. I learned that if I trust Him , that’s really all I need.

Gabrielle S., Bryce Canyon National Park, 2017