Trusting the Redirection
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
One of the hardest things we can do in our walk with God is trust Him when His plan looks different from the one we envisioned. It's easy to pray for guidance, but when God redirects our path, it often requires surrender—letting go of what is familiar, comfortable, and even what we have spent years building.
Recently, I experienced one of those moments.
For ten years, my life was deeply connected to educational leadership. I began as a teacher, grew into instructional coaching, stepped into administration, and eventually served as principal of a school I loved. Those years were filled with growth, challenges, victories, meaningful relationships, and countless reminders of God's faithfulness.
But during that season, God also gave me another ministry—motherhood.
Becoming a mother changed my perspective. I began to realize that the role I had spent so many years identifying with was not actually my identity. Being a principal was a calling God allowed me to walk in, but it was never the source of who I am. For so long, I was the person others depended on, and leading people toward a common goal was a gift God had given me. Yet I often found myself investing so much of who I was into that role that I had to continually remind myself that my true identity is found in Christ alone.
Sometimes we hold so tightly to the gifts, positions, and accomplishments God has given us that we forget the Giver. We become attached to the work of our hands and struggle when God asks us to release it. This past year, God taught me that lesson in a powerful way.
Walking away from a ten-year journey was not easy. There were moments of grief, uncertainty, and questions. I did not always understand why God was shifting my path. But through prayer and surrender, He replaced my uncertainty with peace. That peace became confirmation that He was still leading me forward.
God was not closing a door because He was finished with me. He was opening a new one because He still had a purpose for me.
My role as a mother is not a pause in my purpose—it is part of it. My family is my first ministry, and following God's direction has opened opportunities and blessings I could not have planned myself.
Philippians 4:6-7 reminds us to bring everything to God in prayer, and in return, He gives us a peace that surpasses understanding.
When God's plans do not look like your plans, remember that your identity is not found in your career, title, accomplishments, or role. Your identity is found in Christ. What an awesome God we serve.