I want to be a...

Like most people, I wanted to be a lot of different things growing up. When I was 6, I wanted to be a teenager. Specifically, I wanted to be 16 years old. For some reason, I thought that when you were 16 you didn’t have to go to school anymore. I thought you got a license and a car and then spent every day at the mall hanging out with your friends and buying things. (I’m not sure where I thought all this money would come from—but that’s a minor detail right??).

When I got a little older—around 13—I wanted to be a lawyer. I have a very strong sense of justice so I thought this would be the perfect job for me. Later on, I decided that judges have more influence, so I decided I was going to be a Supreme Court Justice. (I mean, if you’re gonna dream, dream big!)

When I was a junior in high school, I decided that I wanted to be a journalist. I decided this mostly because the media controls people’s perception of the world/events around them. With this in mind, I went to college in NY, NY my freshman year. However, while I was there I realized that writing wasn’t worth all the stress that journalists face—at least, not to me.

Another thing I had to consider was the fact that I want kids someday. Kids are the most important investment in a person’s life. For this reason, I didn’t want to have my kids in daycare and school all the time while I was off working for material possessions. So, a full-time career wasn’t really an option for me. I know it’s old fashioned, but when I’m a wife and mother, my main priority will be the well-being of my husband and children. What better way can you spend your time than in serving those you love?

So, I was not going to be working full time. So was I just going to be a wife and mother, or was I going to do something else? I think I’ve finally found the answer to that question. I believe that God has given me a heart for women affected by abortion. Ever since I was young, stories of abortion have broken my heart. It’s not just the death of all those innocent babies that hurts me. My heart breaks for the millions of women who have been lied to, and forced into choices that leave them robbed, broken, scarred, and not allowed to grieve for their lost children because “it’s just a lump of tissue.” These women are forced to bear an enormous load of guilt, shame, despair, and grief in absolute solitude because our society does not care about them, or the children they would have had. If I can show even some of these women the love, joy, forgiveness, peace, and hope that my Jesus has offered them, then I will consider my life a success. So, in order to help me accomplish this goal, I’m planning on switching my major to Behavioral Science, which is basically counseling. I want to eventually work part time as a counselor at a crisis pregnancy center.

Whatever I end up doing with my life, I want to remain open to all of the possibilities God has for me. The way to live life to the fullest is to follow God with everything that you are. May He give me the strength to do that.