When I was in junior high school, I decided I wanted to be a reporter. My goal through high school was the journalism school at Missouri University in Columbia, MO. I did not qualify for a scholarship to MU. I did receive one from Southwest Missouri State University in my hometown of Springfield, MO. I would complete the general education requirements for the J school and transfer my junior year.

That never happened. My major at SMSU was creative writing. They had no journalism program at that time. During my sophomore year, I completed the Missouri University’s Journalism School application. In March of 1974, I received notification of my acceptance.

I was deciding whether I would acknowledge that God was calling me to ministry when I received that letter. I agreed that my call was genuine and that MU was not the place for me. Southwest Baptist College had what I needed and what I believed Jesus wanted me to study. My schedule there was two years of studying the Bible and Christian ministry.

Are you in high school and contemplating what you will do when you graduate? Do you have a course planned out? Many young people do not. Where are they to go to decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives? I also worked during my last two years of high school and the first two years of college.

When I graduated from college, I had another decision to make. Do I go to seminary to be a pastor, or do I go to work to become a different kind of minister? A bi-vocational pastor was a possibility. I thought that was where I was destined.

I worked as a summer missionary in Northwest Pennsylvania during the summer between my junior and senior years in college. My assignments were determined by the pastor at the Bolivar Road Baptist Church in Bradford, PA. I stayed up on the mountain in Gifford. I preached and taught at Hillside Baptist Chapel there.

Others did not have the opportunities that came to me. You must make your own decisions about taking a job in high school, going to a college, university, or trade school. What is best for you? Good question.

I have three grandsons who have graduated from high school. They are all going to junior colleges and working jobs. They have made a choice of what they think they want to do with their lives. Just like me. Will they arrive at that goal? Or will they decide to make a change as I did?

If you have chosen a career path, or one chose you, and it is not the right fit, don’t be afraid to make a switch. I have worked in many different careers and tried numerous jobs. I retired as a purchasing manager. It was where I needed to be.

My oldest daughter began teaching high school full-time this year. Her plan was to go into communication after college. She worked at a newspaper, did product marketing on the internet, and made a decision to return to college and take a master’s degree in education. She had the courage to change her career. That may be what you need to do.

Life is a process of choices. When your previous decisions have led you to a place you do not want to be, make a change. It may not be easy. It can be enjoyable. I have now returned to my first love. You are reading the type of column I always wanted to write. I began this change over ten years ago. I do not know if I will still be doing this in another ten years. Follow my web page and let’s make that journey together.

©Copyright 2022 by Charles Kensinger