The Maze, Defined

Hello world,

After several months of thinking about this and brainstorming ideas, I’m finally writing my first blog post.

I don’t really think of myself as a writer (I am an accountant after all…well, for 8 more days…), but I’ve started writing more and more with the Masters in Theological Studies that I’m working on. Plus, I read all these other blogs and listen to podcasts, and I have started feeling like I need an outlet to share what I learn with other people. Then I was finally convinced to give this a shot when I had 2 people in one week tell me I should write a book! (Side note: seriously?? A whole book?? You people are crazy.)

So, when I was trying to come up with a name for this blog, I spent quite a bit of time reflecting on my life and what my approach to life has been. I realized that my life has been a series of turning corners, or making changes… the family moves as I was growing up, going to college, several job changes, getting married, deciding to go into ministry, and many others. At each corner, I never completely knew what I was going to find around the turn.

Sometimes the turn would lead me down a long, successful path, other times the turn led to a dead end. Occasionally, I would think about making a turn and decide to continue going straight ahead, and other times I would hope for a turn to appear yet it would never show up. Sometimes I wasn’t able to control the corner I had to turn – the family moves, being laid off from a job; however, usually I was making the decision about turning left or turning right. I would do research, consult with family and friends, think about it and weigh the options before deciding.

And always, always, there was a LOT of praying involved.

All of this process, both the praying AND the research and consultation, was rooted in my faith in God. I always know that He has a plan for me, but I’m the one on the journey trying to live out that plan the best I can. I’m the one taking the step around the corner to see what happens, seeing if that step I take falls on firm ground or unstable ground.

And God is my flashlight, the God that I know through my Catholic faith. Sometimes He is immediately warning me about a dead end around a turn, sometimes illuminating a turn or a path that I didn’t know existed, and sometimes simply telling me to take a few more steps forward to something that will help me see better around the corner.

Is God your flashlight as well? What are the batteries – people, research, experience – that power your flashlight as you are trying to turn a corner in your life? How do you let God speak to you and show you the light that you need to make decisions?

Thanks for reading. I’ll try to update this often, so I hope you check back! Some days I may reflect on something, other days I may just post some links to interesting articles/blogs/podcasts that I come across. Hope you enjoy!