I realize that each occasion in my life has been a stepping stone to this time and place. The evidence of God working out His plan, has taken me a lifetime to even begin to understand. I believe that on the day I die, I will not have even come close to getting off "the tip of the iceberg" in the grand scheme of things....................
In the Book of Mark chapter 10, There was a "Rich Young Ruler". He approached Jesus and asked what he might do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus was testing him to see how serious he was and said to the young ruler "Sell all that you have and give the money to the poor and follow me". Sadly the young man decided to keep his riches instead. I believe if God calls you to do something, you need to be willing to give up your own plans and trust Him with the new one. I had to trust Him but didn't always know how.
After thinking of "from whence I came", I was very thankful for the example of trust my parents taught me. Not only in the part of their lives that I wittnessed, but in the life they lived before I even entered into the story.
My family wasn't ever rich with money , but we certainly learned what it was like to give up all that we had to follow God's plan for our lives, figuring it out along the way. My Dad and Mom ventured out into an unknown world and never planned for what would hit them when they got there.
It caused me to learn that God never calls us to a job without equipping us first to do the work. Just like in anything, to be a contractor you need the tools, to move the earth around you need heavy equipment, to be a doctor you need a stethescope, to be a mom and a school bus driver at the same time as myself, you need to be insane.
The example they set, their character traits be they good or bad, how the achieved their victories and how they overcame and persevered through the rough stuff, everything they did were put out there for tools that I can use today in my own life. As it is and has been with all of us. Scary isn't it?