Obedience.

I was not always a Nursing major. I went in to college majoring in Mass Communications thinking I was going to be in radio and television. Two weeks in to school, I changed my major to Nursing because I felt that The Lord was calling me to that field. It was definitely not something that came from me, because I used to always say I would never in a million years go in to the medical field, but here I am.

I always thought that obedience was a series of one steps in your life. For example, if The Lord wanted me to break up with a boy, I would. Bam. Obedience. Next year, let's say He wanted me to write every day in my journal for a week, I would. Bam. Obedience. I never thought there was anything wrong with this theory until a recent conversation I had with a friend. I was driving, and she was in the passenger's seat as I was pouring out my thoughts to her and what my own plans for my life were. I remember saying, "Hey you know, every day I am becoming more and more okay with not getting in to the nursing program. I'll just graduate with my Public Health degree, and go in to ministry because that's really what is in my heart," and she said "Ericka, but didn't you say God called you to this? Are you saying this because that's what you think The Lord has in store for you, or because you just don't want to leave Sam Houston to go to another Nursing school?"

Obedience in it's true and raw form is a battle that we, as sons and daughter's of Christ must fight everyday. It is not just a series of yeses and noes here and there. I don't obey The Lord by switching my major, I obey The Lord by sticking with it even when it gets hard, even when I have to leave my favorite school that I've ever been a part of and my friends who I now consider family. I have to trust that wherever The Lord sends me- whether It be here or across the country, I will never be alone and The Lord's plan WILL come to pass in my life. I have found that the plans that I create for myself are always so wimpy compared to God's. Now, that doesn't mean that The Lord views me as incapable of being creative or as an unimportant person in the midst of His great plan, it just means that He knows the desires of my heart more than I do, He sees that my potential is far greater than I can imagine for myself, and He loves me too much to leave me where I am, and I have to trust that.