“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1


It’s graduation season—a time defined by the shifting gears of life as childhood gives way to adulthood. As I see the proud moments posted, I find myself reflecting on the winding road of my own journey.

Back in high school, I imagined my future as a freelance commercial artist. Obviously, life had a different canvas in mind.

After graduation, I traded the protective embrace of the West Virginia mountains for the wide-open spaces of the Texas flatlands. It was a move that forced me to grow.

My career followed a similar path of unexpected turns. I spent years in retail, an experience I truly enjoyed because it pulled me out of my childhood shyness and opened my eyes to how the world really works. Eventually, that path led me to a career in insurance. I didn’t follow the “normal” trajectory, but in that deviation, I was truly experiencing life.

By my mid-30s, I reached a crossroads. Realizing the path I was on wasn’t going where I needed it to, I shifted my focus and chose to become what I wasn’t. Even now, many years later, I am still evolving. The difference is that today, I feel the weight of time; I am much closer to the end of the book than the beginning. I finally understand the wisdom my parents and grandparents tried to share with me all those years ago.

Now, I am the one on the sidelines, watching my own children and grandchildren walk through their seasons of change. When we are young, we feel invincible—we think we know it all when, in reality, we know very little. Life is a learning game of trials and errors. Just when I feel I have it all figured out, I’m reminded that I don’t.

Looking back, I see how hard my guardian angel has worked to protect me from my own poor decisions. The Holy Spirit continues to guide and convict me as He always has; the only difference is that now, I actually try to listen.

“We are like travelers: we think we are looking for a destination, but we are actually looking for the person we will become by the time we arrive.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson