Part of being an MK often means experiencing crazy and unexpected things. This can be a lot of fun and a constant adventure–but, if you’re like me, it can also cause a lot of worries. “Flexibility” seems to be the motto of my family and the families of many other missionary and I fully agree. One has to be flexible in order to survive everything that is thrown our way as we juggle cultures and struggle to deliver the gospel to a world that constantly rejects it. But even while I know flexibility is a helpful thing, my heart has a hard time accepting that things are bound to change from the initial plan and that that’s okay.

I thrive on having a plan and being able to prepare for whatever is about to come. The unknown is quite honestly my biggest fear. So when it came time to choose a college, to start preparing for my transition, and to start saying goodbye to my home of the last nine years, I was ready to curl up and pretend like time would just stop. How would I choose a college from a list of options I knew so little about? (Did I mention I’m terrible at decision-making?) How would I make all the changes–my first job, driving, a new support system? Would I be able to connect with other MKs or TCKs, and would my old friends still be around? I wanted to know what every detail of my new life would be so that I could best prepare ahead of time.

I soon learned, however, that I would need to use that term, flexibility, and that the key to flexibility was trusting God. Trusting that God had a plan meant that even though I didn’t know the details quite yet, it was going to work out in the end. Now, I’ve chosen a college, I know when I’ll be leaving my home, and I know who will be around me when I move up. Even though I still don’t know all the details I would like just yet, I’m learning to trust God and I am gaining a peace that comes with letting God have control knowing that even without a plan of my own, I can be confident that His is sufficient.

-by Ashley Robertson, MK to Costa Rica