When I finished high school, I had plans to go to college to become a speech pathologist. Everyone told me I would be good at it and that the pay was good. So I began doing research and shadowing pathologists to make sure it would be a good fit. I decided I could see myself doing it and made plans to enroll in a great program at a state college.
But since coming to Impact 360, I’ve began to reconsider my life plan. Was speech pathology really my calling? Was this what I really wanted to do? Was good pay and decent competency a good enough reason to choose a certain career path?
A few weeks ago, all the Impact girls went on a Biblical Womanhood Retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Led by Sherri Brown and Dana Bort, we spent a weekend surrounded by beautiful nature, studying what it means to be an Ezer, a word that means “helper” but also “warrior.” This is the word given to describe women in the Bible. An Ezer is a woman who follows the Lord even when His call means taking risks, leaving her comfort zone, and going against cultural norms.
To explore these ideas a little more, we looked at four women from the Bible. We were in for a little surprise because the four women we studied were Hagar, Mary Magdalene, Tamar, and Eve. Several of them not typical role models for young Christian women!
But hearing Mary Magdalene’s’ story got me thinking about my own plan. Mary Magdalene is most commonly known for traveling with Jesus, watching His crucifixion, and later being the first to the grave after His resurrection. What I often forgot was that Mary was also demon possessed and possibly a prostitute. However, this isn’t really what she is known for. Mary Magdalene was known for fighting for her seat at the table of the Lord. She did whatever it took just to be at the Lord’s feet. She wasn’t intimidated by fear or the feeling of unworthiness, she just knew that the Lord was welcoming her in.
After studying Mary Magdalene I began to question myself: Was I choosing this career path because it was expected of me culturally, because it was safe and stable? The more I realized that being an Ezer means courageously doing what God asks of me, the more I realized how my current career plan wasn’t that. I realized that God had given me exciting, beautiful dreams. It was up to me to choose if I would trust Him or not.
I’ll graduate Impact 360 in just a few weeks and since the womanhood retreat, I’ve completely reordered my next steps. I’m putting aside my “safe” plan and pursuing instead the dreams God has put in my heart. While studying online through Liberty University, come July I will be moving to a small town in Michigan to intern under Incubate, an organization that helps people actualize their business ideas by connecting them to resources to implement them. I chose this path after recognizing my deep love for not only people, but also for watching people fulfill the calling that God has placed on their life. I know my new plan will require courage; being an Ezer is neither safe nor easy. But fulfilling what the Lord has given you the tools to do is so worth it!
