Direction

Lately, I've had some things on my mind. I've been wondering about what I should do with my life. At the moment, I work at a place called Community Emergency Service, and I don't regret working here at all, in fact I'm very thankful. But, I don't think I'm supposed to be working here forever.

So I've been thinking: what about life gets me excited?

Well, a few things for sure. I get excited about God, and I get excited about people. I get excited about traveling, but I also get excited about living in the Twin Cities. I get excited about art and ancient artifacts that people have left behind. And, truth be told, I get excited about cute boys. :)

So, how do I sort this out? First, I love to work with people, hang out with people, and just live life with people. So, whatever I do I want it to be along-side of people. I've been volunteering with Christ Presbyterian Church's youth group for three years now, and I really enjoy it. So, I've been thinking about a job in youth ministry. In fact, I've applied for a job in Jr. High ministry at Grace Church of Eden Prairie, and am waiting to see how that works out. It would be working with cool people all the time, learning and teaching about God, and probably doing some traveling as well. Plus, I could marry some cute boy and live in the Twin Cities.

But the art/artifact thing is also interesting. I have a BA in Anthropology and History from the University of Minnesota. I could go back to grad school in sociocultural anthropology of art and history. That sounds like fun. It would be a lot of traveling to awesome places and being close to priceless expressions of ancient people's dreams and ideas. But, when I think of the jobs involved, they don't seem to have a lot of personal contact with other poeple. If I decided to choose that route I'll have to trust God for that. Also, it would make getting married difficult, and I might have to move away from the cities. I don't mind sacrificing or moving out into something scary. I think I have enough courage to try, as long as I know the outcome would be favorable (or favorable-ish).

So, my plan right now is to first be thankful to God for the ideas and desires that I do have. Second, I'm just going to keep doing what I shoudl be doing, do what I need to do, and trust God to sort it all out. Here's a story I recently heard:

"A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned precher in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher for some advice. The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud. He told him to open it without tearing off any petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry. But becasue of his great respect for the older preacher, he porceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact... It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do. Noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older preacher began to recite this poem:

"It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
God opens this flower so sweetly,
Then in my hands they die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?
So I'll trust in Him for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to Him for His guidance
Each step of the pilgrim way.
The pathway that lies before me,
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I'll trust Him to unfold the moments,
Just as he unfolds the rose.""