A Date with Destiny
Today I am 33 years old. THIRTY. THREE. I have no idea how that even happened.
It seems like just yesterday I was starting my first job as an ice cream scooper at TCBY. That was quickly followed by an upgrade to radio deejay at the ripe old age of 17 (this remains one of my most favorite jobs ever). I have worked in the medical field, construction, a very brief stint at a Christian bookstore, real estate, education, blogged, traveled to foreign countries, spoken, operated two small businesses out of my home, been a momma and a wife. I have stood beside sweet husband as he has worked in the oil field and construction industries and owned a restaurant, a coffee shop, a crawfish farm, a boiling drive thru, and an out of state Cajun extravaganza. My life so far has been a grand adventure.
“I didn’t always know what I wanted to do, but I knew the kind of woman I wanted to be.”
When I was 21 years old, I was sitting around with a group of friends and we decided it would be cool to host a Christian concert. Small town worship band? No, not us! We were thinking BIG. Which in the early 2000s was Big Daddy Weave and Ginny Owens. Within a few weeks time, I found myself sifting through emails with booking agencies, deciphering riders, and arranging for the change out of the electrical panel at our home church so we could host the tour. We didn’t have a production company, so I made one. We had tickets and flyers printed. I arranged food and staff and radio promotion. And we ended up pulling the whole thing off without a hitch. I think I slept for three months straight after that.
So here I sit twelve years later. I’m still not sure where in the world I will end up. I have hopes and dreams and goals and plans and plenty of nights where I have no clue what tomorrow will bring. But as I reflect on this crazy life of mine, the memory of 21 year old me brings hope for the future. Because even though I didn’t always know what I wanted to do (I still don’t sometimes), I always knew the kind of woman I wanted to become. Have I always gotten that right? Not always. But today, 33 year old me looks back at 21 year old me, and I am motivated by her good example. If you dream of something, don’t let fear grip your path. Step out. Aim high. Be better than yesterday. Take next steps.
In the 12 years that have passed, I have often worried myself out of God’s best for my life. In the spirit of transparency, I can say that while I have served the Lord nearly all of my life, I have truly relinquished my path to God in the last few years. And it is in that time that He has taken me on quite a wild ride—one I certainly never would have embarked on alone or previously thought I was capable of. Today, I keep the ultimate vision in mind. But the day-to-day GPS direction? I leave that to God. While that’s not always easy, I find He’s never let me take a wrong turn since.
Here’s to 33. New adventures. New beginnings. And a destiny directed by the Lord…
