A dozen tiny faces gazed up at me, all smiling with anticipation. I was teaching environmental education at a pre-kindergarten Montessori classroom near my university in Tennessee. We touched animals, found bugs in the dirt, and pretended to be trees by waving leaves in the air. It was the best!
I pulled my scarf tighter to protect against the -40-degree wind-chill as I walked to class. I had transferred to a university in Alberta, Canada far away from the beaming faces of those children in balmy Tennessee. Although the weather was frightful, inside I was delightful, for I could not believe how much God had blessed me. While finishing my degree, I led worship teams, presented at youth retreats, and facilitated events with local schools. How could things possibly get better?
The temperature continued to rise in my trusty Subaru Forester as I drove from Alberta to California. My air conditioning did not work, making this little car an oven on wheels, but I was too excited to care, eager to start my first job out of college teaching outdoor education. The twenty-three-hour workdays were rough, but I loved the opportunity to connect with amazing people, present at an international conference, and strengthen my connection with God. This was better than I could have imagined!
Time and time again, God told me to leave the wonderful opportunities that I knew He had given me. Each time I struggled, wondering why God would remove me from a community where I was just beginning to grow. Each time God took my best and gave me something better. I am now married to my best friend and teaching science to kids while growing an online media ministry. This is the best, at least for now. I do not know what will come next, but I trust God to guide me every step of the way.
How are you learning to follow God? What is God asking you to do? His way IS the best way, trust me. Actually, do not trust me. Trust God. “At once they left their nets and followed Him” (Mark 1:18). NIV
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