It was Christmas Eve 2015. We were at my family’s house (The Bachtold’s), enjoying the night together. We were talking about goals and what we wanted to do in life, and my dad said something that stuck with me: “Set your paths on a long term goal. Make decisions based on where you want to be in 20 years.” It was something along those lines, maybe not be word for word, but the important thing was that it changed my thinking. I began my college career with the mindset that my career choice would involve something that is in demand and pays well. In the end, the size of the paycheck was my biggest driving factor.
Fast forward to Christmas Day 2015, a day after my family had that conversation together. Cait and I were headed to her parents’ to enjoy Christmas with them. I want to be a little transparent with you: on the way, we began to argue right about the second after I said something like, “I think I want to quit nursing school.” That conversation began to unwind into the longest and hardest two weeks our relationship had ever taken on. Big life decisions that cause you to make a u-turn on the path you’re on are generally not taken with an overwhelming since of excitement. Instead, you are riddled with fear, wonder, and your confidence turns into passiveness.
Though that decision to quit nursing school was hard, it grew our relationship more than we could ever know. Now that I have gone through the background story, I can tell you a little on how our faith has grown by deciding to take a leap that wasn’t the safe and secure route, but that has brought us more happiness than we could have ever imagined. There was about a 4 month time period after I quit nursing school where I had to eat, sleep, and breathe faith. I didn’t know what my next step was and I felt like I was in a dark room, timidly walking one step at a time. What I didn’t realize at the time was that in that dark room, there was a hand, guiding me step by step.
Faith is a funny thing. The Merriam-Webster diction defines faith as “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” You may say that you don’t need faith or that you don’t believe in faith. Whatever it may be in, we all had faith at one point. When you were a child, you had faith that someone would be there for you: your parents, your grandparents, a friend, an aunt or uncle. Everyone had someone they believed in and had complete trust in. It is only when we reach adulthood (or maybe around the teenage years) that we realize we don’t “need” anyone. This mindset of not needing anyone makes it even harder to fall on your knees and completely surrender in faith that God has this.
That 4 month time period was filled with those moments. I still have those moments today, but my faith is made stronger after each surrendering moment.
This post goes out to all of you who are unhappy with your career choice. Know that it is possible to do something you love. It may not happen all at once, but it will happen if you work hard enough at it. The cool thing is that when you find out what you are truly passionate about, working hard toward something won’t seem hard because you will enjoy it.
Cait and I would love to open up the invitation to have coffee with anyone who would like to talk about this. We went through it, and I know that so many people out there go through this and think they are stuck. Have faith in what you do, and know that God is there for you.
