Reflections on Match Day 2013

I want to introduce you to two of my best friends:

Cooking Baking Extravaganza 2012

That's Anisha, and we've been friends.. forever. We met in elementary school; a bit competitive as we were both super smart... and we knew it. But we were friends. We then went separate ways for middle school, high school, and, for a time, college. However, I transferred schools, met a girl who became my bestie, and then realized her roommate was best friends with... Anisha. So we became friends again. Graduated. Moved on... until I moved to Miami, where she conveniently was attending medical school. Bam. Instant best friends again, as if nothing had ever happened. She is loving, and caring, and kindhearted, basically everything you could ever want in a lifelong friend.

Celebrating her return from India... in unintentionally matching sweater dresses, tights, boots, belts, and scarves...

This is Molly, and we've been friends... since I moved to Miami. She and Anisha met/became friends in medical school, and eventually attended church together as well. Molly and I had a Chili's date very early on in our friendship and from that first encounter it was if we had been friends our whole lives. She is in many ways the yin to my yang (heck, we even dress alike without meaning to!), and has truly enriched my time here in Miami. There are so many things I probably wouldn't have survived without her support.


Molly and Anisha have been in medical school, kicking butt, for the past four years and something very special happened yesterday:

After months and months and months of applying, and interviewing, and flying, and not sleeping, and stressing, and thinking, and eventually ranking their top programs... they finally found out where they will be doing their residencies and continuing their medical careers. Needless to say... it was an exciting day. As a friend who has somewhat 'traveled' this journey with them, I was proud, nervous, and excited to experience 'Match Day' by their side.


And of course... God taught me a lesson in the process (ain't that always the way!).

Going into the match day ceremony, both girls had arranged their top programs in a ranking order, and both had a feeling things were going to work out a certain way, and without revealing their personal stories (because it's my blog so the only person whose life I can exploit is my own!), they both had their own external factors that made the outcomes of Match Day critical.

Envelopes were pulled randomly, which meant that we were waiting until the very.freaking.end of the ceremony to find out their placement. And when it did finally occur... both of them were slightly surprised at their results; not in a bad way, in a 'well that's not the plan I thought most likely to occur, but seeing as I just opened my results and read them on stage in front of hundreds of people, I'm not really in a position to process at full capacity" kind of way.

Yet once they got back to their seats and started being able to think, it became very obvious, very quickly, that God clearly had a plan for both of them, and this was truly his perfect will for their residencies. For Molly, not only did she get into a program that will fit her needs perfectly, she is in a place where she will have all kinds of support in her personal life. For Anisha, very quickly God began opening some doors for opportunities outside her medical career that might never have been possible otherwise.

This was their signal that they were happy with their match

It was fun from my end (because it was my not my future in the balance!), but also exciting to watch their hard work and efforts come to fruition after so long. Both of my girls got into top tier programs, and there is not a doubt in any of our minds that God had a hand in making it so. God loves them, and is so invested in their futures, that he helped orchestrate their paths to send them right where they need to go.


And I realized... All I can do is believe that God loves me just as much as He loves them. And if I believe His love put a path in front of them... then that means He has a plan for me as well. I might as well stop doubting it and just enjoy the ride.

I never saw myself in Miami, but if I hadn't come here, I wouldn't have reunited with this lady

And I never would have met this one

There are several things going on in my life right now, and several new opportunities in different domains that excite me. 

And I find myself trying to plan for them, trying to figure out how scenario A could happen.. and scenario B, and what can I be doing to encourage along some of the other situations..

And then I realized I'm tired of orchestrating everything. Because, guess what? It doesn't work, and all that ends up happening is I make a mess of things, and potentially screw up something that might have been really great. Or I get invested in something way too early only to be disappointed when I realize I've read the signs wrong.

So I'm done interfering, and Im willing to take a step back and let God figure out the details for me.

I can't help but thinking he's probably up there saying  FINALLY! NOW I can get things done!

Celebrating at the class after party

The whole point of The Positivity Project was that I was going to go along for the ride and let God take me where he wants. I haven't been perfect at it; I keep thinking I know better than God. However, I've realized it's possible to be walking down the right path the wrong way. And while it might still get me where God wants me to go... I'll miss out on much of the joy along the way. If I'm always looking forward trying to see what's on the horizon, I'll miss the beauty of the flowers along side of my path. If I am so stuck on what is in the past that  I am walking backwards trying to keep my eye on what was known, then I will never see the beauty of the sunset before me. 

As a really valued friend put it this weekend: "Sometimes it really isn't about the end goal, it's about the journey. And if we focus too much on what we want, or where we are going, we miss the whole point of why we're trying in the first place."

Bible study ladies, celebrating our girls

All I can do is try. Sometimes I will fail. And then recognize my failures, and still keep going.

But once in a while, MAYBE, I'll manage to get it right.