Central Asia – From Comfort, Through Change

 The Navigators

At five years old, I decided I wanted to be an actress. In eighth grade, I made a bet with a classmate that I’d be famous by the time I was thirty. Even in young adulthood, I studied acting and theater in college and graduate school. I’ve dreamed and dreamed of stardom as long as I can remember. Then God called me to the mission field, to things like fundraising and traveling theater. To bugs and discomfort. This wasn’t in my plan. I went, but it took years, and it was unwillingly at first.

After many sacrificed dreams and divine surprises, God is blessing my decision to obey Him. Just the other day, I had an individual rehearsal with one of my student actresses. She struggled through a confession that she was finding herself in the flirtatious, attention-grabbing character she played. I had the chance to tell her I loved her beyond and in spite of these embarrassing similarities.

In acting classes, I learned that the strongest choices as an actress are those that are the most uncomfortable. I counseled my student through her discomfort, watching her blossom into a more mature actress and young lady. I’ve grown, too. I’ve grown from these dreams of comfort and fame into the impractical and impossible works that God has prepared as precious gifts for me. Sacrificing comfort, through change, has created opportunities that only God can give.