Praising Pathways – Wherever They Lead!

Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Little did I know, as a teenager, when my mother wrote those precious words in my first Bible, where those pathways would lead.

Sometimes the paths were winding:

In college, this guy walks into my classroom as I was leaving, and a friend introduced us. He said his name was David, handed me his newspaper and mentioned he had a gerbil named Gina Lollogerbil. I just thought he was the cutest thing on campus. Three days later he asked me to marry him.  But I was stubborn. I had no interest in marriage, I was having too much fun and anyway, another guy had already proposed the day I met Dave. Well, I held out for three weeks.  Next month we celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary. Where did those years go? (I still feel thirty although my bones tell me differently.)

Headed to Australia for a new job, we had Visa’s, passports, shots, airline tickets . . . when life took an abrupt “drafty” turn. “Uncle Sam wants you,” his country declared!  So our path took us down 20 years of military service, with its 12 moves including California, Washington D.C. and Germany. Then it was Dave’s call to seminary which lead to a teaching position at a small Christian school. A tiny $500 per month salary was tough, so he was lured away into the golf industry. More exciting diversity ensued, as well as several more moves. Then it was fulltime motor-homing for 6 years with more adventures while cultivating friendships along the way.

Occasionally the paths became rocky:

One can’t be married without some impediments along the pathways. But with God as our GPS system, He steered us through the rough patches, restoring, growing and refining our love for each other. Believing that marriage is a 50-50 proposition is a myth. Sometimes Dave needed me 70% and sometimes I needed him more. Spouses also get on each other’s nerves and sometimes even being married can be a lonely situation. But through it all, the Lord is faithful and I praise God for always having Him as our solid marital foundation.

Gloriously, there were smooth paths:

When a decision is God’s Will, it has a way of working out. That is what Faith is all about. When we were out of God’s Will, challenges arose, but when He called us out of the desert, (quite literally since we live in the Arizona desert)  we answered that call. As we discover when reading and study Scriptures, it is unwise to rebel against God’s Will. (Jonah, anyone?)

Even if it meant sacrifice, such as giving up a family celebration, we learned to obey and trust Him. The world doesn’t understand and looks at any Christian who must choose between God and family and criticizes that choice, no matter how heartbreaking it was to make.

My husband has answered the call to be a pastor at a loving, praying, small church in Ohio. Although I prayed we would eventually return to the Myrtle Beach or Charleston, SC area, God had other plans. (Good thing I never gave away my winter coat!) Perhaps I always knew in my heart that to make a decision to follow Christ wouldn’t be easy, but it is certainly worth the sacrifice for our LORD who gave up all for me.

So we are moving this week! My next post will confirm that this was the miraculous “coincidental” pathway God wanted us to follow all along! Please stay tuned!