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 What
am I supposed to be doing with my life? The job I’ve got now is
definitely going nowhere. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be working,
but I thought I’d be doing something more important with my life, not
selling insurance. I mentioned my frustration to my pastor, and he said
check out Proverbs 16:3:
“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will
establish your plans.”
I began to really think hard about how things could work,
and then praying even harder that God would help me figure it out.
 Tom
and I have been dating for a year and a half. He’s great. And the
subject of marriage has come up. But frankly, I just don’t know. I’ve
prayed about it, but it feels like I’m resisting God’s direction for us.
Then I read this in Romans:
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test
and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Wow. I shared it with Tom. Once we felt it was okay to
question if our relationship was right, things became clearer.
 I
was stressing about the future. You know, the career path, whether to
start a family, the pressure about going back to grad school. Then I
read Romans 12. Stuff like,
“Live in harmony with one another... if it is possible,
as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
I started to think that maybe I was so focused on God’s
specific will for me that I was losing sight of His clear direction for
how I should live with others. That got me thinking and relieved a lot
of tension and helped me focus on the here and now.
 Wedding
plans really had me freaked. Then I read this from First John:
“Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions
and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we
set our hearts at rest in his presence.”
That settled me down. I began to see all the preparations
as just another way for us to show our love for each other. Suddenly, it
was fun again. |
 It’s
been tough to be positive when the job I held was outsourced somewhere
else. It’s crazy. I’m a college graduate with five years experience. I
was so depressed I couldn’t do anything for a while, let alone look for
another job. Bible verses like the one in Romans helped:
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance,
character; and character, hope.”
I know I’m going to beat this.
 Watching
the game last week I saw that John 3:16 sign in the stands for about the
millionth time. I knew about the Bible from Sunday school, but I’d
wandered pretty far from the church. I decided to look it up. What
really hit me was the next part:
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but to save the world through him.”
That got me thinking. And reading more. I don’t know. The
questions are still there, but somehow they feel less intense.
 I
wasn’t sure if I was even going to college, let alone having to make a
choice between two great places. One was near my girlfriend; one was THE
place to go. I was seriously stressed about what to do. Then a friend
put me onto a verse from Proverbs in the Bible:
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on
your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make
your paths straight.”
I started concentrating less on what I wanted and more on
what I thought God wanted me to do. Still a hard choice, but I feel like
I’m making it the smart way.
 I
wasn’t expecting this. The last thing I needed was a baby, especially
with the plans I had made for my life. I know there are other ways out
of this and everybody’s either hinting at them or telling me outright. I
was looking for the strength to do what I knew I should when I came
across this in Psalms:
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in
my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully
made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not
hidden from you when I was made in the secret place... your eyes saw my
unformed body.”
I didn’t plan on being a mother yet, but now I see a
bigger plan.
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Changing lives
