Unexpected detours

Have you ever had one of those days where you thought you knew where you were going but the powers that be have decided to accomplish their own agenda without regard to yours and you end up somewhere else? You know, like the construction detour that causes an hour backup and the GPS that sends you to the nearest work around which is actually a dirt road through someone’s field?

That’s what my journey to being a therapist and a pastor feels like. My GPS (God’s positioning system, in this case) keeps sending me down paths I hadn’t seen and probably would never have taken on my own. Of course, had I not followed this new road, I’d probably still be stuck in traffic somewhere, and that’s not a happy place to be.

The road to becoming a therapist and a pastor led through Evangelical Seminary. I thought I was just going to pastor, but one class in the marriage and family therapy program and I was hooked. Then I couldn’t decide which path to take, so I did what any logical person would do – I did both.

Today I’m so glad I took the detour. My training as a therapist – marriage and family therapy is all about systems, the interrelations between persons – and as a pastor have enriched and informed both areas of practice and come together in wonderful ways. This dirt road has had some potholes and ruts, and a large rock or two, but there have been unexpected glimpses of beauty, and the vista at the end of this road…Amazing.