Steps in Walking by Faith
Nearly two years ago, God stirred my heart. I was working a rewarding, yet rather mundane job for Lakeland Community College in Ohio, a place that I was well known and well respected. I was still taking a few classes just to keep myself busy until starting at Myers University in Cleveland in the fall semester of 2005. For the most part, I was happy. Yet, each day that went by, I felt as if God had something different in mind for my life.
Still a fairly new Christian, I inarticulately asked God for direction—for help. Within two weeks, I met a person who began to challenge some of the assumptions I was making about where my life was headed. He asked about my college choice, intended career path, and plans for the next several years. I explained that I chose Myers because it was close to home, and I had received scholarships that would pay for nearly all of it. He challenged me to look outside the immediate area; however, I resisted.
Over several conversations with this person, I did begin to explore my reasoning for wanting to stay in the area. I had a job, a girlfriend (who I knew I would marry---someday), and we both had family and friends nearby. Yet, I felt a strong desire to explore my options, and one of those options was Regent University.
“Regent University? That is in Virginia,” I lamented. I had no desire to move, after all, I was fairly comfortable. Actually, I was in a serious “comfort zone.” Nonetheless, I did check out Regent. I had heard about them at a Phi Theta Kappa convention in California two years prior. The one thing that really stuck out at the time was how different the Organizational Leadership and Management degree was from the traditional Business Administration degrees touted by every other school in the country. The program intrigued me.
After more investigation and evaluating my options (online, on-campus, or a once per week commute) I figured the only way was on-campus, which meant moving—moving out of my comfort zone. I brought these thoughts to Laura, my girlfriend at the time, on May 20th, our four-year dating anniversary. It was that night that we decided to take a step in faith… that step meant finishing our classes, quitting our jobs, getting married, moving to Virginia, and starting school at Regent University.
Over the next two months, we executed our plan. We arranged and paid for our own wedding (August 6, 2005) and honeymoon (cruise to the Bahamas), conducted an inter-state apartment search, looked for employment in the area, and enrolled at our respective schools. I can truly attest that even though we had good event planning skills between the two of us, this was a huge undertaking. There was no way we could have done it without God’s help.
As I reflect upon that time, I realize that all the decisions we made were so right. All the details that needed to be in place found their way. Everything, including the many obstacles in our way, seemed to be “magically” removed, lifted, or otherwise handled. This was a major turning point in our lives. It was a great lesson in trusting God, and though we had to work hard to make it happen, we didn’t “worry” about the details. We simply knew it would all work out. It was our first true step toward walking by faith.
Since then, my wife and I have come to realize who is in control—and it is definitely not us. Sure, we make decisions, we plan for the future, and we work hard; however, we are now accompanied by God as our guiding light as we walk toward our future.
As I finish my degree here at Regent, I feel that there will be another big change. After receiving this education, I may be able to ask God for help a little more articulately than I could two years ago, but the fact remains that neither one of us knows exactly what our near future will look like. Will it mean continued employment at Regent University? Will it mean starting a family at the end of the year? Will we become more involved at church and in this community? Or, perhaps we will end up moving somewhere else.
Still a fairly new Christian, I inarticulately asked God for direction—for help. Within two weeks, I met a person who began to challenge some of the assumptions I was making about where my life was headed. He asked about my college choice, intended career path, and plans for the next several years. I explained that I chose Myers because it was close to home, and I had received scholarships that would pay for nearly all of it. He challenged me to look outside the immediate area; however, I resisted.
Over several conversations with this person, I did begin to explore my reasoning for wanting to stay in the area. I had a job, a girlfriend (who I knew I would marry---someday), and we both had family and friends nearby. Yet, I felt a strong desire to explore my options, and one of those options was Regent University.
“Regent University? That is in Virginia,” I lamented. I had no desire to move, after all, I was fairly comfortable. Actually, I was in a serious “comfort zone.” Nonetheless, I did check out Regent. I had heard about them at a Phi Theta Kappa convention in California two years prior. The one thing that really stuck out at the time was how different the Organizational Leadership and Management degree was from the traditional Business Administration degrees touted by every other school in the country. The program intrigued me.
After more investigation and evaluating my options (online, on-campus, or a once per week commute) I figured the only way was on-campus, which meant moving—moving out of my comfort zone. I brought these thoughts to Laura, my girlfriend at the time, on May 20th, our four-year dating anniversary. It was that night that we decided to take a step in faith… that step meant finishing our classes, quitting our jobs, getting married, moving to Virginia, and starting school at Regent University.
Over the next two months, we executed our plan. We arranged and paid for our own wedding (August 6, 2005) and honeymoon (cruise to the Bahamas), conducted an inter-state apartment search, looked for employment in the area, and enrolled at our respective schools. I can truly attest that even though we had good event planning skills between the two of us, this was a huge undertaking. There was no way we could have done it without God’s help.
As I reflect upon that time, I realize that all the decisions we made were so right. All the details that needed to be in place found their way. Everything, including the many obstacles in our way, seemed to be “magically” removed, lifted, or otherwise handled. This was a major turning point in our lives. It was a great lesson in trusting God, and though we had to work hard to make it happen, we didn’t “worry” about the details. We simply knew it would all work out. It was our first true step toward walking by faith.
Since then, my wife and I have come to realize who is in control—and it is definitely not us. Sure, we make decisions, we plan for the future, and we work hard; however, we are now accompanied by God as our guiding light as we walk toward our future.
As I finish my degree here at Regent, I feel that there will be another big change. After receiving this education, I may be able to ask God for help a little more articulately than I could two years ago, but the fact remains that neither one of us knows exactly what our near future will look like. Will it mean continued employment at Regent University? Will it mean starting a family at the end of the year? Will we become more involved at church and in this community? Or, perhaps we will end up moving somewhere else.
The fact is that we do not know right now, and that is okay. God is in control. He brought us together. He brought us here to Virginia. In His time, he will let know what our next step will be… our next step in learning to walk by faith.
Labels: Thursday's Thoughts
posted by Kyle at 9:02 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home