God's will

 

Growing up at Fairhaven, I have heard one point pounded by my Preacher - "Find God's will and do it."  So much so that the college alumni had a rock engraved with those exact words.

Doing God's will has never been something difficult for me.  I grew up at Fairhaven and it was only natural that I attended the college on campus, which I believe to be the best Christian college in the nation.  As a girl growing up at Fairhaven the chronological events are usually, go to college, graduate college, get married and ride off into the sunset.  (maybe that is exaggerated a little;) 

And that is exactly how my life was going up until the end of my sophomore year.

Suddenly I knew nothing of what my future held and it was something I struggled with for the next two years through college.

Here is where I would like to insert that were it not for  godly Christian parents I would still be struggling with this concept.  I am so very thankful that I have parents who encourage me to study God's Word and find His will myself.  I am so thankful for my mother's notes to me that say,

God has a divine will for your life~isn't it wonderful to KNOW that you are in His will and He is going to bless you?  It is like opening a gift from God!

It is notes like this that I keep in my Bible and refer to often for encouragement. 

This past May, it had been two years since my college graduation.

The majority of my classmates have married, or are teaching in Christian schools, or are serving in some other church.  It is only through God's strength that I do not question Him or doubt His will.

I have been offered a few teaching jobs but none of them even required prayer.

I visited or would speak to my Preacher and I knew that God would not have me go there.

However, recently a teaching position opened up at a great Christian school in California.

I began to pray if God would have that position be offered to me and if so that I would know very clearly that that was where I should be.  Nothing scares me more than not being in the center of God's will, and this was not a small matter.

My visit to see Liz was already planned and as God would have it I was interviewed at the school where my best friend teaches.  The school was great, the church was wonderful, and the people there were so friendly.  PLUS, my best friend lives there!!!!  How much better could it get??

If I was not a Christian, I would have taken the job then and there!

After all, it sounded like a dream come true!

However I knew this was a very serious matter and that making a decision based on what I wanted would end up in disaster.  So, I came home and talked it over with my family and we began to pray.

Three weeks passed and not only was my family praying that God would give me peace in the decision I should make but also my church family.  In that time countless people would come tell me they were praying for me, something I will be eternally grateful for.

About two weeks ago, I knew my answer.  Or should I say God's answer...

It was not the easy route.

I would love to teach,

to have my own class,

to live on my own,

to experience a new place,

to teach to the class room next to my best friend...

But it was not God's will.

That I was certain.

And so God's will for me is to stay at my home church.

I don't know why and I don't know what the future holds.

Does God want me to teach?

Will I stay in the same town my whole life?

Will God bring my soul-mate here?

All these questions have run through my head, but this I know - that God's place for me now is to continue at Fairhaven, serving on the bus route, helping in a 5-6 grade girls Sunday School, singing in the choir...I have found God's will and I will do it.

 

God has led me to an Insurance Agency where I have been working for one month now. 

I love learning new things and going outside my comfort zone.

I still do not know what tomorrow holds, but I will take it one day at a time

after all the future is God's gift to me...