by Paula M. Fitzgibbons
I have always been rather clear about who I am supposed to be. When I was all of four years old, I made three declarations about my future: I would become the Queen of Mexico, a nun who ran an orphanage, and a writer.
My problem is not so much absorbing my callings from God—it is understanding what each call really means and being willing to consider alternate paths towards it. I've spent far too much energy berating myself for not following these calls to the tee—despite, for example, knowing full well that Mexico has no queen.
Being who God calls us to be requires the act of becoming. So when we wonder about Divine Urgency, we must accept that God's timing and definitions do not always
match our own. We are—in fact—always becoming.
I may never be the Queen of Mexico, but I spent years volunteering at a medical clinic in Tijuana. Though not a nun running an orphanage either, I was a Lutheran pastor whose family was initially formed through adoption—and who, not so incidentally, has advocated for adoption reform through the avenue of writing.
I was delighted recently to learn from a placard at the San Diego Zoo that California Condors become more colorful with age. This was rather comforting to me. Though my paths to becoming who I am—to embracing God's plans for me—have wandered, one thing remains certain: Divine Urgency is not the same as human urgency. As long as we are becoming, we needn't fret so much about the specifics. The path, in and of itself, paints the full picture of who God calls us to be—and that picture becomes more colorful and closer to the Divine with every step.
To read more stories from those friends of St. Andrew's who have heeded God's call, click here.
My problem is not so much absorbing my callings from God—it is understanding what each call really means and being willing to consider alternate paths towards it. I've spent far too much energy berating myself for not following these calls to the tee—despite, for example, knowing full well that Mexico has no queen.
Being who God calls us to be requires the act of becoming. So when we wonder about Divine Urgency, we must accept that God's timing and definitions do not always
match our own. We are—in fact—always becoming.
I may never be the Queen of Mexico, but I spent years volunteering at a medical clinic in Tijuana. Though not a nun running an orphanage either, I was a Lutheran pastor whose family was initially formed through adoption—and who, not so incidentally, has advocated for adoption reform through the avenue of writing.
I was delighted recently to learn from a placard at the San Diego Zoo that California Condors become more colorful with age. This was rather comforting to me. Though my paths to becoming who I am—to embracing God's plans for me—have wandered, one thing remains certain: Divine Urgency is not the same as human urgency. As long as we are becoming, we needn't fret so much about the specifics. The path, in and of itself, paints the full picture of who God calls us to be—and that picture becomes more colorful and closer to the Divine with every step.
To read more stories from those friends of St. Andrew's who have heeded God's call, click here.
RSS Feed
