Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Almighty (10/03/24)
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TITLE: Altered Dreams | Previous Challenge Entry
By Janet Richey
10/10/24 -
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The nerve-rattling sound of an oven timer jolted me out of my 20-year-old daydream, and I allowed a frustrated sigh to escape from my lungs. Instead of living the isolated lifestyle of an eccentric world-famous novelist in a hidden pocket of the Pennsylvania Mountains, I was sitting in the middle of suburbia on my living room floor, folding my 100th pair of tiny socks while trying to keep my one-year-old from eating her toes.
Where did I go wrong?
Well, let’s start with the appalling lack of direction. In its purest form, writing was the love of my life, and I honestly couldn’t see myself doing anything else. So, instead of chasing the almighty dollar as the rest of my generation did by going to college and getting a job that actually paid the bills, I was waiting for a benevolent literary agent to approach me in the middle of my fast-food restaurant shift, and offer me a book deal. At seventeen, I wrote an article for a national magazine and thought I could ride on the coattails of that success for the rest of my life. But once the novelty wore off, and I made a series of bad decisions during those life-launchpad years between 18 and 22, I stopped writing. Gave up the dream. And a piece of me died inside.
“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps,” Proverbs 16:9, NLT.
Clearly, God had other plans.
While it seemed like I fought it every step of the way with my poor life choices, I managed to move out of the town that was holding me back, found an entry-level job that paid the bills, and eventually, a husband and a family that filled every other longing; I became a stay-at-home mom. Between those events, I slowly rediscovered the God that I felt had been crammed down my Baptist-born throat. And they weren’t the same god. I couldn’t see in from the rapid pace of motherhood, but He was pursuing me. Relentlessly.
As empty-nesting loomed on the distant horizon, my husband bought me a purple laptop to replace the IBM Selectric, and the dream took on a life of its own. This time, I allowed God (mostly, at least) to lead the way. But dark days were ahead. My dad died, COVID struck, and I lost both my mom and mother-in-law in rapid-fire succession. It was also when I did some of the most healing writing of my life. And people related to my pain.
Around that time of my 50th birthday, I found a church I had been praying for since my early twenties. Godly friendships soon followed, and people were reading my stuff with interest. Today, I write for our church blog, and while it doesn’t match the dream of being a reclusive novelist, it’s even better.
So, where did I go wrong? I didn’t. Slowly and nearly imperceptibly, God took my dreams and redirected my path to something better than living in a dusty cabin.
Where do you see God’s pursuit in your life?
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