“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” — Proverbs 3:5-6
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Are you doing what you want to do, or are you doing what God wants you to do?
When I started my coaching career in 1974 at the collegiate level, I thought I knew where I wanted to be and truly believed I had accomplished something worth living for. Forty-nine years later, I look back and am embarrassed for how I acted and what I thought of myself.
After two years, I left that coaching position and moved on, took a job as an athletic director for three elementary schools, coached elementary students in physical education all day and coached teams after school. That position prepared me for 15 years of teaching and coaching in a middle school, and then I moved on to being an athletic director at a high school while still coaching.
Unfortunately, I gave myself a lot of credit for climbing the ladder of so-called success. It wasn’t until 1999, while listening to our pastor teach one Sunday, that I concluded there must be more to what I was doing. Don’t get me wrong — I was a Christian. I believed in Jesus as my Savior; however, I really had not given my life over to Christ 100%. Maybe you have been there, or maybe you are there now.
Shortly after that sermon, I was offered a position at a new Christian high school being built. I felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to take it. I was now in my mid-40s and I truly felt the Lord prompting me to trust Him. That meant I needed to turn my life over to Him 100%. I did, and my life changed in every way.
It has not been the smoothest road, but it has been the most rewarding road to travel. You might think a Christian school would be full of a bunch of believers. Not true. This school was built to bring in high school kids to share Christ with, and this is exactly what God wanted me to do.
All I can say is I have seen this school go from 156 enrolled 9th-10th graders, to a school of nearly 1,700 students in 4th-12th grades. God has done miraculous things with our school and the community.
You might be floating down the same river I was, thinking, “This is the best there is.” You cannot imagine how your life will change in so many ways when you let go and allow God to navigate the waters for you and lead you in the direction He wants for your life. Let go of the oars and see where Jesus will take you.
— Jan Hethcock
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