The Right Direction
by Kate Rhody
About a year ago, my life was very uncertain. I was unhappy, drowning in debt and struggling to plan my future. I only had three classes left to finish my two degrees, but I felt like I couldn’t push through everything going on in my life to finish. Every career possibility seemed like a dead end. I considered journalism, but didn’t think I would be able to compete with all the other amazing writers out there. I thought about starting a business of my own, but I’m not business savvy and struggle with handling finances.
I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I made a rash decision: I moved back home with my parents and decided to join the Air Force. There I would have a steady income and the government would help me pay to finish school. I’d be told what to do and what to think. I wouldn’t have to make any of these hard decisions because the Air Force would plan my future for me.
I have a few friends who have served in Iraq, and I asked them what they thought about me joining the Air Force. They told me that, for a woman, the Air Force would be the best branch to join and described all the great things that the Army had done for them. To me, it seemed like they were all headed in the right direction: They all had money, drove nice cars and had completely paid for school. Their futures were following a clear, direct path with no uncertainty. I was really beginning to like the idea. But after our conversations, most of them would admit that they didn’t know if they could see me in the military. I was back and forth for a little while, but finally forced myself to think that joining the Air Force was the right choice.
After my decision finally started to sink in, I realized that I wasn’t completely happy. It just didn’t feel right on the inside. When I thought about my future in the military, I didn’t really like what I saw. The structure and formation of a military life just wasn’t what I had in my heart. I kept feeling like there was something else out there for me, but I pushed forward. Logically, the Air Force made perfect sense – it would take care of all my problems. I tried to silence the feeling that I was doing the wrong thing, until God came chiming in.
God spoke to me through Shaun White’s Hewitt Packer commercial. (Shaun White is the pro snowboarder who rides for Burton, the biggest snowboarding company in the world.)
I remember it vividly: I was walking by the living room and paused for a minute to watch a little TV. The HP commercial came on, and Shaun made motions with his hands, like he was pulling images from a computer out of thin air. He talked about his life as a pro-snowboarder – competing, traveling and being with his friends. At the end of the commercial, he told viewers, “You never know where the snow is gonna fall.”
Watching the commercial, I got so excited and jealous of his life. How could I ever have a life I was that excited about if I got myself tied up in the Air Force? In my future career, I wanted to be able to travel like that. I wanted to be able to see my friends regularly. I wanted more freedom in my life than I imagined I’d get in the Air Force.
I know I am never going to be a pro-snowboarder, but I could feel that God was telling me to at least look at other job options before I went through with this. So I went online and looked at the Burton Web site. I found a position dealing with overseas snowboarding events and competitions for which I would do the coordinating and planning. It would allow me to travel and be a part of an industry I love.
I applied for the job, telling myself that I would enlist in the Air Force if I didn’t get it. It was while waiting to hear about the position that I decided to listen to God and not try to force my own path. The Air Force wasn’t the life I wanted for myself – more importantly, it wasn’t what I felt God wanted for me.
I never did get that job at Burton, but I do know that that excitement I felt that day was God telling me to go a different way. He gave me the strength to finish school and is still persuading me to follow him. Even though I’m 24, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. But I’m so close I can taste it.
Published 17 August 2009. All Rights Reserved.