Where You Go, I will Go

I sat on the floor of my closet in the early morning hours in the days leading up to a writer's conference and poured out my heart to God. I started writing fiction in junior high -- a scant twenty-five years earlier. A small publisher had committed two of my books to print before it went out of business. Since then, my writing had stalled.

In the thick of raising two small children, I had carved out little space to dedicate to my writing. A year earlier, at another writer's conference, every literary agent I pitched kindly rejected my novel. But they offered scraps of encouragement that I clung to like white dog fun on black leggings.

I spent a year writing feverishly to present my very best work to those same agents. My heart desired to take the next step in my writing career -- landing a literary agent. Traditional publishers only worked with agented authors. I had my sights set on two of the best in the industry.

Yet in that moment in my closet, my desire for God's best overrode my desperate pursuit of a career in fiction writing. I turned my hands up and promised God I'd go where He went. I'd stay where He stayed. If a writing career didn't fit His plan for my life, I'd let it go.

Don't give me too much credit for sacrificing my wants for God's. I reached this place with tears and fears and a path of failed attempts to do things my way behind me.

A month later, I signed with an amazing literary agent who has championed my work for the last three years. We're getting closer and closer to reaching the goal.

I never expected what came next.

When I turned my hands skyward and pledged to follow God wherever He went, I meant in my writing career. I did not specify that tiny detail, but I'm pretty sure He knew. The week before Thanksgiving, God laid out a new path for our family that had little do with my writing career. He called us to sell our [dream] home and leave the friends with whom we'd spent a lifetime building our world.

The shiny new adventure excited me, but my heart grieved the loss of the life we'd built and the friendships we'd made for a long time. Even now, three years later, I miss pieces of those days.

I have no regrets about following God. The path hasn't always been easy, but I've had peace and comfort knowing He's leading the way.

This last week, a group of ladies in my neighborhood gathered in our home as we began Kelly Minter's revised study of Ruth. Our week four memory verse challenge comes from this study. I love the patterns and repetition of the verse, but also the heart and sincerity behind it.

Will you join us this week as we memorize Ruth's iconic words?

Below you'll find two images: one for sharing online and one to use as your smartphone's screensaver. You can also use these memory aids to help you memorize the verse.