Submit to Your Calling

During this time last year, I was waiting on an acceptance letter to the University of Minnesota for grad school. I had applied for the child welfare program and was banking on going to grad school the next year. As I worked hard on my essay, had great letters of recommendations, and a good Baccalaureate GPA I believed there was no way I wasn’t getting in. My future was set.

The funny thing about planning your life out is that it doesn’t always go that way. Just when I thought my future was set I didn’t get into the University of Minnesota. I was at dinner when I got the email, “We regret to inform you….” YES, it hurt like hell. YES, there were tears at dinner, and YES, at that moment I had no clue what was next in my life.  It was a whirlwind of emotions but a blessing in disguise.

Feeling such uncertainty can be very scary, but when you don’t know, God always knows. So there should never be a reason to be afraid. When one door closes, another door opens. That is exactly what happened to me. TEN MINUTES after I got my denial letter I received an email from a job I applied to in San Francisco, California. They wanted to schedule a phone interview and, within a few weeks, I was offered the position.

One of the hardest but most rewarding things I have done was submit and accept where God was calling me. Moving to California was a plan I did not foresee for myself but it was the plan I was destined to be on. God closed doors and opened opportunities for me to get there, and it all fell into place.

The week after I graduated college I packed my car and drove 30 hours to a city where I didn’t know a single soul. I left behind my family, friends, and a guy I thought I was going to marry. I just went and I found a whole new adventure, happiness, a relationship with God, peace, love, and growth. I just went and I found my brave.

Submitting to what you are called to do or where you are called to be is not easy. A lot of heartbreak and letting go comes with it. It’s not easy to let go of someone you loved and it’s not easy to lose friends because you are halfway across the country and you both lost touch. There is a lot of change that needs to be accepted when your life is taking a different direction that originally planned, but I promise you with all the change there is even more happiness to come. It takes bravery to do something you have always desired and it takes bravery to take a leap of faith and go somewhere you’ve always dreamed about. If the opportunities arise, take them. There is nothing more beautiful than following your path and nothing more rewarding than submitting to your calling.

Be Brave,

Madilyne