I am 34 years old and have never had a ‘real’ career and I have a college degree. A B.A. in communications from Bethany Lutheran College. When I graduated, I started working at the lumber yard I had worked at the summer before (because that is where my dad had worked for 25 years…I wonder how I got that job).
I was let go because I was downright awful at my job and because they were cutting back but I hate math and I was working in an accounting office. Thankfully I was almost done with my Nursing Assistant training, so I completed that and got a job at a nursing home. I enjoyed that and decided heck! I should be a nurse.
I moved to Brainerd, MN. Ended up getting pregnant and constantly throwing up so I quit nursing school and moved back in with my parents and enrolled in nursing classes close to home. Shortly after my son was born, I met my husband. Weeks after I met him, I quit nursing school. I was going to marry this guy and I joke with people that I had met my sugar daddy so no need for career or a job.
The ‘job’ I’ve had the longest and since I married my ‘sugar daddy’ has been being a stay at home mom. I adore it but it does not pay well. Now I have been doing some writing for the past 4 years and most recently speaking. I think I may have found the job I am good at, enjoy, and even get paid a little for.
With all that being ssaid….I’ve done some wandering in my day. There have been some struggles.
Where have you experienced wandering in your life? Career? Relationships? Faith?
Moses did 40 years of wandering.
I may beat him on how long I wander.
When we lose direction, feel a loss of purpose, loss of job, career or vocation, or when a vocation changes it can throw us for a loop. Companies size down, industries change, kids grow up, or we retire. Any of those things can change our lives and make it feel as though we are lost and wandering.
I used to think this saying was so cheesy or just too clique but the older I get the more I appreciate it:
“Not all who wander are lost.”
I used to think people who liked that phrase just lacked passion, purpose, or drive. I was wrong. We all wander. Some recognize it some don’t.
A zig zaggy path in life does not mean you are lost. I assure you that God has always known where you are and what you are up to.
Psalm 139 assures us of that.
They don’t call the Israelites time in the desert the lost time. It’s called the wanderings. While wandering may look like they are lost God knew where there were each day and night.
As you gather around the Christmas table and tell everyone what your year look liked have no fear. If it felt stagnant, He was there. If it felt zig zaggy and out of control, He was there. If you achieved the goals on your list, He was there.
You can tell those gathered around about his work in your life. You can say I’m not sure what he was at work doing but I know he was there so we will see what He is up to.
We are not lost because Jesus always knows where we are.
What do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to do next year? Wander through it. He is with you.
Loved In Spite of Self 
Yes he is with everyone that is what allows us to have what we really need.Without his assistance life is really dull not worthy of living.Thank you very much for sharing.
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