Thank you for sacrificing a small portion of your days during Advent to join me here to learn more of “God’s Love Story.”
Thus far, the road for my father and mother had unfolded smoothly. But love also demands sacrifice as you will see in this next letter that Dad wrote to his parents. My mother came to the conclusion that she should give up her graduate studies in Cambridge where she was doing research to determine which component of human blood mosquitoes needed in order to reproduce. My father and his parents tried to encourage her to continue her doctoral program in biology, but to no avail.
March 12, 1941…continued: “As for Joan’s plans for next year – she seems to want to not go on with her studying…she says she doesn’t want to feed mosquitoes all her life and she would rather darn my socks!”
Engagement was a major change for both of them, but for my mother it also involved a sacrifice of her educational goals and plans. Getting to know God may involve sacrificing our intentions, only to discover huge joy in submitting to His greater plan. Before I married, I worked with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Mexico. I could not imagine giving up that work to marry. However, God convinced me that He had different ideas for my future. There was a cost – letting go of my plan – but what I received in return was so much more than anything I could have imagined.
Romans 12:1 tells us, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies [and plans!] to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”
Never be afraid to let go of your plans if God is pointing you in a new direction.
