My Answer to the Inevitable Question

I've worked so hard to answer this question without any success that I've finally put it on the backburner. For years I struggled and stressed whenever I thought, "What do I want to be when I grow up?" I took personality tests, examined lists and lists of possible careers (calculating salary, location, and opportunity for advancement),  and sought advice from loved ones. I prayed until I was tired of praying, I researched until my eyes watered. And through it all there was never an Aha! moment when my future unfolded before my eyes and everything was made clear. There was a time when I was fairly sure that I wanted to be a teacher (you can hear all about it on video 1 and 2 of my high school graduation speech, or read the transcript here), but with further knowledge that dream is slipping by the wayside, or going through some serious modifications.

So here's another question: do we have to have it all figured out? Must we know at age 15, or 17, or even 20 what we want to do with the rest of our lives, as long as the next few steps are decided? My answer is, yes and no.

Yes: It's important to plan ahead; if you don't have something of a road map then you have no idea where you're going! It pains me to see some of my friends and acquaintances drift through life without any concrete goals, just vague ambitions and hopings for the best. I don't want to be flipping burgers at McDonald's when I'm 30, I'm going to make some plans.

No: If my diligent (not to say manic) research of possible career paths has taught me nothing else, it has made me realize that there are so many possibilities! Our world is one of absolutely unlimited potential. I listen to several podcasts on a regular basis which I would recommend to anyone who doubts that it's possible to find creative work that matters and that you love: 48 Days, No More Mondays, Free Agent Underground, and Coach Radio. The hosts of these shows are inspiring, revolutionary, and are constantly giving me great ideas.

But they aren't giving me a roadmap, and that's what I think so many of us want. We want God to hand down the script from Heaven and say, "Here, my child, these are the plans I have for you." Unfortunately, that doesn't happen.

What has happened, for me at least, is that I've been given inspiration for the next few steps of my journey. I started taking CLEP and DANTES tests a few years ago to earn credits for a college degree (you can learn how I earned over 84 credit hours without stepping foot in a college here). Then I enrolled in Thomas Edison State College, a fantastic (fully-accredited) school that will accept bucket-loads of transferred credits. Now I'm on track to complete my bachelor's degree in English by November of this year. What am I going to do with that degree? It's hard to say. I've tried to study in my strengths (you'll notice I didn't major in basket-weaving or algebra), because I figure that whatever my future career looks like, it's going to involve writing, and a lot of it. I also have plans to go to Bible school for several months in England, and I'm super-excited about that!

In the end, it's all a delicate balance between two proverbs,

 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6).

"Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. (Proverbs 4:26).

What about you? Are your next steps clear?

Questioned Proposal, a photo by Eleaf on Flickr.

Wherever the Cross Takes Me...

This is Altogether Separate's fortieth post. Forty is an interesting number. It rained over all the earth for forty days and nights. God led the Israelites through the wilderness forty years.  Jesus was on the mountain forty days and nights, tempted by Satan. A child is in the womb forty weeks...

But I digress.

Now, on to our regularly scheduled post.

As children, my friends' future careers changed on almost a weekly basis. Most of them still have no idea what they're ultimately going to do with their lives, and they rub their temples as they choose a major and pray for God's guidance on the road ahead.

I was always the odd one. I career-swapped a number of times in my early school days (though always pursuing similar fields), but well before middle school my love of animals and fascination with science fused into a steadfast pursuit of veterinary medicine.

My interest and utter enthusiasm in that area never waned (and if you find yourself particularly bored today or taking a curious fascination to strangers' childhoods you can read an essay about my peculiar and nerdy one), but as I grew older I began to wonder if doctoring animals was really what God wanted me to do with my life. After all, shouldn't I dedicate my blink-of-an-eye time on earth to serving people? Was this a God-given desire, or one to test me to see how much I was willing to sacrifice to follow Him?

It was during that time I learned of veterinary missionaries—veterinarians who abandon the comfort of their former lives to practice in less fortunate regions of the world, caring for the animals the native people rely upon for food, transportation, and income; educating them to increase the longevity of their livestock and equipping local veterinarians; and often ministering to the people in more conventional ways by distributing Bibles and helping churches and teaching English.

I came to realize there are at least as many ways to serve God as there are people to serve Him, and it was entirely possible I could serve through the veterinary field. Regardless of where life took me—overseas or here at home—I would be shining the Light He put in me by enabling me to live a holy life, and I would be fulfilling a necessary occupation in the world.

And what if this isn't what God wants? What if He wants me to marry and have children instead?

I suspect there is a good chance I am called to serve as a single woman (although honestly at this point I have no idea), but if I am to serve God by serving a husband, I will gladly devote my life to ministering to him and educating my children. If the latter, the knowledge and skills acquired in my time of singleness will probably help me in the future in ways I can't conceive of.

But the important thing is that I am content with God's plan, and I will carry my cross and follow Him wherever He may lead.

[By the way, I'm pretty sure I got all the facts right in the first paragraph, but I have the horrible habit of second-guessing myself and I don't have the time to double-check right now. So if I got anything wrong please let me know. =P]

Image credit GabrielaP93 on Flickr.

A College Crossroads

It is hard when we come to crossroads in life.  All of a sudden, we find ourselves faced with making big decisions that will determine the direction of our life...

A crossroads everyone comes to sooner or later is one 7 lettered word: college.

Sometimes it is a little overwhelming to think about life after high school graduation!

crossroads, a photo by Laenulfean on Flickr.

For me, it is mainly because I have so many interests...it is hard to know what to major in.

I want to  ...write a novel  So should I focus on English?   ...help starving orphans in Africa
Do I become a teacher?  ...act in plays  Turn my attention to drama?  ...make a difference in the abortion statistics.  Be an ultra sound tech at our pregnancy center then?

These questions go back and forth in my mind like a ping-pong ball.

With crossroads like college we find ourselves meditating on exactly which path to go down.
We ask ourselves which one could be the right one?  If I do choose one, would it be a step in the wrong direction?  We naturally want answers to these questions.

Basically, the first step to planning our future is seeking God's will for our life and any dreams we may have.  After all, He knows our hearts.  Chances are if they line up with the Word, then He planted them in our hearts to start with.  We need to be asking Him what path He wants us to take, whether it be going to a university, community college or taking online courses!

I encourage you to pray about which path God wants you to take...He cares about our future!  

whatever are you going to do with your life?

I'm a senior in highschool. This brings up a lot of questions about the future, mostly from other people directed to me (not that I don't have questions myself, but I tend to not give them as much thought as other people do to the ones they give me). Top of the list are "So when are you gonna find a guy? *wink*" and "Where are you going to go to college?"

To the first, I usually just laugh and mumble something about waiting on God's timing (actually, I just can't find an old enough guy who'll have me, but I digress). To the second, I usually shock people. My answer isn't exactly the standard one, mostly because I don't jot out a name or even act properly conflicted about my future choices. In fact, by the standards of most people, I'm pretty sure about the whole thing. Except, still, they don't really like my answer.

My answer usually goes along the lines of, "I'm not going to college right off the bat, we'll see what God does, kthxbai." This, naturally, can worry some people, especially those who find it their duty to worry about other people's lives way more than said people do. Invariably, the person I'm talking acts as if I've committed some grievous error and goes out of their way to convince me that I do, in fact, need a college education.

I'm hoping there are some of you out there who can identify with this plight. We get questions, answer them honestly, and then are told (usually with a pat on the back and a little smile) that we're young and so very smart and we should totally go to college so we can get a good job. Even after one gives the most convincing arguments for why college really isn't necessary--the cost, the high unemployment rate among college graduates, the depravity that usually goes on, and the Mrs-degree-oriented Bible school atmosphere--people still carry on, usually by asking "Well then, what are you going to do with your life?"

My answer usually is, "I'm going to be a missionary with a side of political action and a healthy dose of motherhood." And here is where the real kicker comes in. With a look of confusion and an expression of pure woe, they ask, "So you're going to Bible college?"

Nope.

I'm not.

So stop asking.

Okay, so I don't actually say that. But I think it. A lot. So let me just dispel one myth before I stop talking. You don't need a degree to serve God. You don't need to spend $40,000 and four of the best years of your life to serve God. You don't need to get a fancy piece of paper and a bunch of lectures unrelated to your future life to serve God. God doesn't care about those things. When looking for someone to serve him, he doesn't look for what humanity views as the most qualified or the most learned. As the Bible says, he uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.

He picks a shepherd boy and a kid from the most dysfunctional family imaginable. He picks a prince-turned-slave. He picked a tax collector. He picked a temple prostitute. He used a murdering Pharisee.

Most of these people didn't have a college degree. Some of them didn't even know how to read. They were simple folk, people who had been radically changed by an Almighty God. That was all they needed, and it's all we need as well. College can be helpful, yes. It can teach you things that are necessary if you want to be a physicist or a doctor. But don't think that just because you want to serve God, you have to go to college. Because that's a lie.

When I grow up...

I want to be

a ballerina

a teacher

a writer

a nurse

the list can go on...

As a child, "growing up" seemed so far away, that you could change your mind over and over again on what you wanted to do when you were older. Yet, now you may find yourself about to face the question of what to pursue after you graduate, and the answer doesn't come as quickly!

There are so many different views on what a young lady should do once she graduates, so I would like to share of my thoughts...

Before the decision is even made, you must turn your heart to the Lord and strive to understand what He desires... what plans would glorify Him as Devin recently shared.

Each person is different... the Lord gives us all different callings... and only when we obey Him can we find true joy.

My deepest desire is to be a homemaker, mother, and wife. Homemaking is a Godly desire and one to be treasured. Yet, does that mean that once I graduate I am just going to wait for my prince charming to come and sweep me off my feet? Well, though this may be the Lord's will for some, I have the conviction that while the Lord has me single, I want to be useful for Him. During these years of waiting, I want to prepare my heart as well as my mind for what the Lord may have planned for my future.

If it is the Lord's will that I marry, I would like to have certain skills mastered so that I may use them as a tool to bless my husband. They may be such skills that I need to take college courses to accomplish them, or they may be skills that I can gain through other areas, but still, I feel as though that I need to be sharpening my mind for God's glory.

For example, I love praising the Lord in song and He has blessed me with the ability to play a few instruments.While praying about and pondering what I should do after I graduate, the thought has struck me that I should pursue my study of music, that way I can give music lessons in the future. That may be a blessing to my husband, helping him and seeking to bless our family, and a tool to glorify the Lord.
These are simply thoughts... ponderings... which fill my mind as I pray about this season of change. {Which for me is about a year away}

I do believe that the Creator has made man to be the breadwinner, and the wife to support her husband. Sadly, our generation tries to switch these God- given roles, which results in chaos and heart ache.
Only when we embrace God's design for us as woman can we truly be content.
Thus, I have the conviction to not desire a life career. Indeed, this is a conviction, one that I feel upon my heart, yet I do not judge those who feel otherwise!

Therefore, like I have previously shared, your decision regarding college/ higher education truly depends on what the Lord has convicted you about... what choice would enable you to glorify the Lord more?

So, though I have no immediate plans... I am trusting in the Lord, waiting for His wonderful plan for my future to unfold, and lifting up this matter to Him. Prayer is of utmost importance in any decision!
He knows thethoughts and desires of my heart.... yet I must be willing to submit to whatever His will is.

May we trust in the Lord with all of our heart, leaning not on our own understanding... in all areas of our life.

Blessings,