Borrowed Breath

Remember sitting in the guidance counselor’s office in high school and being asked this question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I know at my school, if you were even semi-academic, you were expected to move toward college. If you got A’s and B’s and said you wanted to be an auto mechanic or a carpenter, you were told you needed to change your mindset.

But the reality is there are few kids at that age that really know what they want to be when they grow up. Most have no intentions of growing up at all.

How many young people change their majors (multiple times) when in college?

Plus, even if a path is laid out before you, things change. We just had a childhood friend of mine over for dinner. We had not seen her for awhile, and she is at a crossroad in life. She has a degree. She had a career. She is very talented. She has a great personality. She is young…approaching 30 is very young. But she does not know what her next steps are. She kept saying, “We’ll see.” and “Who knows?” throughout the evening whenever we spoke of her future.

I never made it to college. Some foolish life choices I made when I was in high school hijacked those plans and sent me for a roller coaster ride. In hindsight, those crazy rebellious years helped shape who I am today and made me appreciate grace more. But they were not easy years.

And after I got saved, I was a carpenter for almost 7 years and have been at my current job for over 4. I took some college classes last year and plan on taking more this year. But I’m 32 years old and do not have a career path laid out yet. I’m in the process of raising support to be a missionary. And I’m taking steps toward being a church planter. I think that’s what I want to be when I grow up…a missionary and a pastor.

But one thing is clear, I must, like Isaiah and Samuel and Jesus, just be available and teachable and ready for whatever my Lord has planned. Yes, He gives guidance and wisdom to those who ask and trust Him. But sometimes the journey is more important to our growth and development than the destination itself.

Add it to the list of things I don’t know.