My Life…A Good Book

Sometimes when you read a good book, you never want it to end. Some of you read the ending first because you have to know what will happen. And sometimes these actions parallel how we live our lives.

We serve a mighty God who is truly the only one who knows exactly how things turn out. There are times in our life when we fret about whether something is God’s will or not God’s will. “Am I following God’s will, or am I going astray and therefore going to screw up my whole life?” While theology and understanding of this concept cannot be covered here, I thought I’d touch on the surface of such guidance.

Today it dawned on me that God has always guided me — when I’ve listened — and is always trying to guide me, even when I’m not listening!!! There a few things in my life that I had a certainty about; the first was to marry Tim, the second was that he would one day do comedy full time, the third was that his brother would be his manager, and the fourth was that one day we will move to Ireland.

Our lives, if we’d “let go and let God” do His thing, could be the kind of story we love to read.

So far, three of the four have happened.

You may say, “Well, that’s easy to figure out now.” But I felt God told me I would marry my then-best friend, Tim Hawkins, at a time when I did not want to. I always, deep down, sensed that Tim would do comedy full time, but we had no idea what that would look like or how to get there.

We struggled on a salary of no more than $27,000 plus whatever shows we could book for almost 10 years of our marriage. Tim’s brother, Todd, was a brilliant salesman for companies placing doctors and later placing computer techs. He had a title and a six-figure income to boot. So to consider that he would give up all that, on purpose, to go without a paycheck for a full year and jump into the world of the entertainment business seemed inconceivable, and yet he did just that.

I would joke (with a hint of belief) that God wanted him to know how to place people in jobs so he could do that for Tim when he became his manager.

Now, about moving to Ireland. I have joked about this for over five years. When the slightest thing Irish crosses our paths, I say, “See? That’s a sign we’ll live in Ireland.”

The kids never know when to take me seriously, and frankly, I don’t either.

The thing is we never really know the outcome, but we do know we are called to obey. It’s an exciting journey of unpredictable blessings and hardships.

Our lives, if we’d “let go and let God” do His thing, could be the kind of story we love to read. And while you can’t skip to the end to see what happens, you can enjoy it so much you hope it never ends.

[verse reference=”Jeremiah 29:11″]For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.[/verse]