I did a lot of theater growing up. I tried some other stuff — like piano (meh), sports (yikes!), and beauty pageants (don’t EVEN get me started…). But theater was my first and greatest love. I was fortunate to grow up in a town with one of the top community theaters in the country and several amazing theaters in the surrounding cities, so I was ALWAYS in a show. I played everything from a mouse to an orphan to an existential wanderer….over 25 plays in all, from the time I was five until I graduated high school.

This is me (age 17) as the Wicked Stepmother in “Snow White”

Everyone – myself included – assumed I’d pursue theater after high school. Not just because I loved it, but because there was nothing else I was good at! Seriously. I was a terrible athlete and an average student. I was good at one thing and one thing only: performing.

But when I was sixteen, I dedicated my life to God at a Christian camp. I really meant it, too. I told God I would do whatever He asked me to do. So God immediately began working in me. First, he had me break up with the guy I was dating. That wasn’t too hard. But then…He made it clear He wanted me to leave the performing arts school I attended.

Gulp.

What?!

I knew what He was asking — not just that I leave the school, but that I give up my plans to be an actress.

Uh, God, maybe I heard you wrong? I prayed. I mean, Broadway needs missionaries, right? I could SO shine for You on the Great White Way. Pleeeeeeease??

But God was asking me to trust Him, to give up my plans for my life and follow His plans instead.

It was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made, but I left the performing arts school – and my dream of becoming an actress – and obeyed.

God blessed my obedience in so many ways. It would take another blog – or ten – to talk about that! I have never regretted following God’s plan instead of mine. Never.

Most people make their most life-altering decisions between ages 16-24. I certainly did. Maybe you’re there, right in that window, and God is asking you to trust Him, to listen to Him, to follow Him wherever He leads.

That decision isn’t easy – believe me, I know! But I also know it is SO worth it. God knows far better than we do what is best for us.

(By the way: I still get to do theater – I direct and act, even write plays! I love that! And though it is a wonderful hobby, it isn’t my life’s passion…Ministering to teens is my life’s passion. But I never would have known that had I not surrendered to God’s leading all those years ago. In letting go of the “good”, God allowed me to have the “great”).