One of my simple pleasures in life is reading Victoria magazine. The May/June 2013 issue
features an article called “Destiny’s Detour.” The editors had asked readers to
share stories of how their lives had turned out compared to what they thought
life would hold for them when they graduated from high school or college.
Victoria
is a secular magazine so God doesn’t play a major role in these stories,
although Merrie Beth Scherff of Ohio did acknowledge that “I made my plans, but
someone else directed my steps into so much more than I ever could have
dreamed.” Those of us who live by faith can see God’s hands at work in the way
our lives play out. Admittedly, this can often be seen only in hindsight.
I graduated from college over fifteen years ago. As
I sat there in my cap and gown with my newly minted degree in history and art,
I was very excited about my future. I was headed to graduate school to study
history and hoped to someday be a college professor. I thought that would be a
great career that I could balance with being a mother which I also hoped
someday to be. I spent that summer working in an art print and framing shop and
dutifully making my way through the hefty pile of summer reading.
In August, I received a random call from the career
services office at the college I had just graduated from. They had a part-time
position in the Continuing Education office and were wondering if I might be
interested in applying. To this day, I have no idea why they called me, but I
did apply and got the job working evenings and weekends. Come September, I
started my graduate program, only to decide within a couple days that it wasn’t
for me. I decided to withdraw. That was one of the hardest decisions of my life.
I felt like I had to explain and apologize to all the people who had supported
me, but even though I had no long-term plan, I felt like I had made the right
choice.
I worked two other part-time jobs in addition to the
one at the college until April, when I was offered a full-time professional
position. One of the benefits of being full-time was that I could go to graduate
school at the college for free. I jumped at the opportunity. The school only
had two graduate programs at the time – education and theology. I knew I didn’t
want education, so I chose theology.
I always had a great interest in religion and the
default choice proved to be a perfect fit. I had no plans for what I would do
with the degree, but a Master’s Degree was always a plus working in higher
education. If people asked what I would do with the degree, I would simply say
it was for personal fulfillment. I ended up defending my Master’s thesis when I
was eight months pregnant with my first child. It seemed that degree would be
of little professional consequence, but was merely a personal accomplishment
that I could be proud of.
Fast forward a few years. I now had two small children
and was no longer working at the college. I was meeting with a spiritual
director and struggling to find my place and purpose in the world. I wanted to
know what God wanted from me. One night, I was putting away laundry when the
thought came to me clear as anything – “You have a theology degree and you can
write. Write.” It was one of the few times in my life that I’ve received a true
calling from God.
I’ve spent almost a decade writing about faith. That
degree I thought I would never use has become my life’s work. Hopefully, I’ve also
helped some people along the way.
In the meantime, I started homeschooling, discovered
I was raising a child with Aspergers, and became a foster-mother to two small
children. None of these were anywhere on my radar when I was twenty-one. I
often have said that “I plan and God laughs.” But looking back, I can see God’s
hand in all of it and the ways that He prepared me for this life and helped
shape the path. My life has definitely been full of divine detours.
Looking back over your life, where do you see God’s
hand? What are some divine detours your life has taken? Please share your
stories in the comments below.
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