By the start of my junior year of high school, I was ready to be done with school. I had no plans for my future, no idea what job I’d do to support myself. I just wanted out. So, I took as few classes as possible so my day would end around noon.
At the same time, my mother was encouraging me to pursue a career in art. All my life, she had pushed me to develop my artistic abilities. She especially thought I had a bent for design and wanted me to enroll in courses at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC.
So, I listened, and by the end of my junior year, I had a new vision for my life. Inspired by Peter Max and Andy Warhol, I wanted to become a commercial artist. So, I packed my senior courses with electives in art and design with a plan to eventually study art at the Corcoran.
Then I got pregnant.
And abortion sounded like the best option. And who would dare to deny a 17-year-old gifted artist the world that laid at her feet?
Now, if you know a speck of my story, you know I walked out of that abortion clinic. And you know I married that baby’s father, Tim. But you may not know it was 50 years ago today that I gave birth to my daughter Kelly. Then two years later, her brother, Daniel was born. And my only regret? I didn’t have more kids.
The marriage was hard, really hard. But as I became more deeply rooted in my Christian faith, I clung to scripture for direction. I considered divorce many times, but kept coming back to the verse where Jesus said He hated divorce.
And just when I was ready to quit, Daniel got arrested. And that forced Tim and me to come together and fight for our son. Again, I went back to the scripture where Jesus left the flock to go after the one. Which inspired Tim and me to buck up and stand by Daniel. So for the next 5 ½ years, every weekend, we laid our lives down and visited Daniel in prison. And when he got out, he never looked back.
Then after 38 years of marriage, Tim got cancer. And once again I was faced with a choice. Do I put my life on hold to care for him? I didn’t even wrestle with the decision. Again scripture led me to say, of course I will. Then all my thoughts and actions over the next 2 ½ years, centered on making Tim’s life the best it could be. And in the process, our marriage blossomed as we discovered a deeper love for one another. A love I never thought possible.
Now I wonder why I ever wrestled with God over choosing to lay my life down for others. Because these few crossroads of my life, have produced in me, the greatest satisfaction.
Maybe that’s why parenting is so essential to our wellbeing. Maybe that’s why God consistently pushes us into situations like caring for the elderly. Maybe it’s the care giver who gets the most out of those situations. As the world tells me all the ways I am entitled to live my BEST LIFE, I think I’ll stick to what the bible says. And I’ll let what Paul said in Romans 3 prove my point:
…let God be found true, though every man be found a liar…
When have you followed scripture when the world told you to do otherwise?