I firmly believe that my life is a gift from God, & I want to use what I’ve been given to honor Him. I am not perfect at this & I have made some HUGE (not to mention, embarrassing) mistakes, but I can’t change the past. I can only move forward, learning from my mistakes. So how did I decide what I was going to be when I “grew up”?
All of my decisions, are based on prayer. The more I come to God in conversation, the more I am in tune with what He wants for me to hear. I am in prayer constantly about the little things & the big things in life. When I was applying to undergraduate school I prayed about which school & major was best for me. I ended up attending RMC with a major in Religious Studies & a minor in Education. God placed people in my path while I was at RMC & I ended up switching & graduating with a major in Biopsychology. That is a HUGE switch LOL! I continued on that path throughout grad school, receiving my Masters and Doctorate in Behavioral Neuroscience. Through all of these chapters in my life prayer has been the common denominator; I must keep the conversation between me and God going so that I know what the next step is that He wants me to take.
Each next step has not always been easy or even something that I completely understood. For example: Why would God want me to switch my major from Religious Studies?! Why would God want me to enroll in such a competitive graduate program when He knows I’m an anxious person?! Why would God want me to go through such a challenging graduate experience half-way across the country without my family for support?! This is where patience and trust comes into play. I had to choose faith in Him for what was to happen next. So even though I might not have understood it at the time, I knew that one day I would be able to look back & see why His way was better than anything I could have ever planned for myself.
What I wanted at the end of high school was different in college, & completely opposite in graduate school. But now that I am getting ready to start my new faculty position in the fall, it all makes perfect sense. I will be the newest faculty member at a Christian university starting in the fall. This position is a combination of everything I have been studying for the past 10 years; it’s perfect for me because I still get religion, education, & neuroscience. Do you know how challenging it is to find a scientist with faith?!?! Almost impossible! Most scientist are atheists, so to fill a science position at a Christian university presents multiple challenges, but not for me. Because I have faith I see God’s glory in science, & God has been training me for this position for decades. I could have never seen the availability of this opportunity 10 years ago, but now looking back, I can see that my life was a puzzle waiting for each piece to click into place. I admit though, this process did take some time, so through prayer I
Something I had to continually repeat to myself, was that God does not make accidents, and there is no such thing as serendipity or coincidence. NO SUCH THING! God has a plan for my life and it is GOOD! I had to relinquish what control I thought I had on my life, & give all of my concerns to him. This is very frustrating if you’re a control freak like me, but also very liberating. Through letting go & letting God work, I found my calling. My calling is way better than anything I could have ever planned. Praise the Lord! I not only found my perfect career, but I also found my husband.
My best advice for someone looking for their calling is to pray & have patience, trusting in the Father’s will for your life. It is so GOOD, so no need to worry! He has everything under control, so continue to work hard & value each day & relationship as a gift!
How did you choose your career path? What is your calling in life? How do you exercise that calling?
