Several decades ago I jumped the traces and left a boring job that paid well to take a job I loved dealing with historic preservation that paid less well. It was a wonderful trade.

Returning from an enjoyable conference connected with that job, I answered a call from a U.S. State Department representative with a job offer to join the U.S. Foreign Service. A couple or so years before, still in that first boring job, I had applied to join the Foreign Service. Nothing had happened, and I went on to take the historic preservation job. Now I no longer wanted the FS job—or thought I didn’t.

In answering the representative’s call, however, I told her that I would accept the invitation to join the Foreign Service. To this day, I’m still not sure of all the reasons that I, in a split second, changed my mind and agreed to this obviously major life decision. I can only say that I am so glad I did. Those years serving my country in the Middle East and other places opened my life to invaluable experiences and growth.

I’m not necessarily encouraging split second decisions that change one’s life. In my case, going back as an adult to study subjects that had always interested me but I hadn’t yet explored helped prepare me for that decision.

My spiritual life figured into that decision as well. I had never given up peppering my prayer life with the earnest desire that God would lead me to a better way to spend the life he had given me, with all of my loving family members, friends, educational experiences, and spiritual growth. I was blessed with friends’ support and time together during all of the searching.

I have an idea that this kind of continual, day-to-day journeying, study, and openness to what life brings is necessary to live the life God intends for us.