When I Grow Up...

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

I love asking preschool-age children that question - it's always a surprise the answer they'll give. One of my nieces desires to be a "rescue vet," while the other just doesn't know. It's okay to not know. It's okay to be grown up and still not know what you want to do or be. Although, one thing we should all want to be is like Christ.

There's a song by Warren Barfield that has the lyrics, "Who I want to be looks a lot like You, who I am has a lot of work to do." Isn't that the truth? The more we strive to be like Jesus, the more we see we aren't much like Him. I think that's God's intention - the more we strive to be holy, the more we realize we will never be, so we come to appreciate His grace even more.

It's His grace that saves us. It's His grace that gives our lives purpose. What is your purpose?

Growing up, I wanted nothing more than to be a Mom when I grew up. I grew up with a mom who stayed at home with the four of us and provided us, along with my Dad, an amazing childhood - I can't remember lacking for anything, except the mohawk I wanted to get in first grade but wasn't allowed...

I never desired to have a career, I never desired to be a working woman. I still feel that way today. At times I felt lost, almost like God didn't give me a talent or a calling. Then one day at teen camp, I felt God calling me to give up my life, no matter the cost, to follow Him, no matter where He called me.

A year or so later, I started seeing God's call on my life as a teacher, a writer, and a speaker. I enrolled in a Speech class in high school and was encouraged by that teacher to pursue my talent in speaking. Later, in college, I was also encouraged by a professor to pursue my talents in devotional speaking and writing.

I was told, however, that I needed to have life experiences in order to become a women's writer/speaker. "Easy enough," I thought, so I prayed for life experiences.

Since that time, I have had many experiences, some overwhelmingly big that I know I've experienced them for no other reason than to use in ministry one day.

When I go through these obstacles, no different than any other person (we all face trials and experiences), I'm comforted by the fact that God is answering my prayer for experiences and confirming His will for me to become a women's writer/speaker.

Just as Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, God doesn't comfort us to make us comfortable, but so we can comfort others. In the same sense, God doesn't give us experiences and successes just for our own good, but so we can share our successes, testimony, and experiences with others (2 Corinthians 1:4).

What is it that God's asking you to do? Do you have a particular talent that others praise? Are you gifted in a certain way? Do you feel Him calling you to action or to a heart of willingness where He can show you His will for your life?

What does God want you to be when you grow up? He has a plan for your whole life. Find out His will for your next step.

"For I know the thoughts I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jer 29:11)