Chosen by God, to be used by God

This past weekend all the women on project had the opportunity to go spend time together. We went to a camp about an hour away for the night. When we first went I have to admit I didn't have high expectations for it. Even during the talks  we had during the day I saw it as nothing different from our normal speakers and women's time during the week. My attitude changed though when the staff took us on a faith walk. They blindfolded us all and took us on a walk for about thirty minutes, stopping along the way to emphasize the women in the Bible we had been talking about for the past four weeks.  Tamar, who persevered in truth, Rahab who acted in faith, Ruth who was humbly committed, Bathsheba, who sought forgiveness and Mary who walked in obedience. All of these women were chosen by God to be used by God, just was we are. Being women of God we have great examples in the Bible to look at, and until now I hadn't spend a lot of time studying them. Taking this walk and summarizing all that we have been talking about was great, and encouraging for my own walk with God. I'm praying that all of us women here will continue to become all that God wants us to be, as women of God.
As we were walking throughout the camp, blindfolded, a lot was going through my head. I kept thinking about how the physical walk we were taking related to my walk with God. Even with the blindfold on I still opened my eyes searching blindly to figure out where I was. How many times do I search for the answers myself? trying to take things into my own hands and relying on myself. That night I realized that If I can trust a human being to lead me blindfolded for thirty minutes how much more can I trust a God who loves me more than anything and is the only one who knows exactly what is best for me, to lead me through my life. God will lead us. He will never leave.
I like to know what is in store for me. I like to know the long term plans for my life. I'm beginning to learn that I need to hold my plans with an open fist. So often I cling to my plans, not wanting to listen to God if He wants to change them. I want to be  prepared, to plan for my future in  a sense, but I want to make sure I am still giving complete control to God in everything that I plan for myself. Easier said than done, but watching God take away expectations I had has helped me realize I could save myself a lot of pain and trials if I sought His will before planning my own.
When we all got back to where we were staying we had a pleasant surprise awaiting us. The guys on project, who had their retreat earlier, had cleaned and decorated our condos. It was such a nice surprise to come back to and so encouraging to see the way they all stepped up to encourage and serve us. They also surprised us with a dinner by the bay complete with music and excellent service. It made me so thankful for all the great men on project. Their servant hearts and complete respect for all of us was amazing to see. It seems to be harder and harder to see those qualities in men during day to day life, so being served by them was encouraging to see.
This is the last week we have with the staff. It will be sad to see them go, and probably hard at first. I'm so excited to see all  the students step up and lead the project. If you could pray for all of us as we're working together, that we would be able to lead well and encourage each other through the next five weeks. I know it will be amazing and I'm looking forward to sharing how God uses the students here to keep making a difference.
~Rachel