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Tonight yet another great kid that calls me dad will celebrate his high school graduation. I’ve written before about my son with Too Many Hats, but today he closes a door with a clear direction for the next step.

He still has many interests. Like his dad, he is pretty good at several things and, also like his dad, he’s not always focused on any one of those things. But he doesn’t have to know the whole path for his life. In fact, that’s not at all the way God lays out His plans for us. We could not possibly swallow it if He tried to reveal it to us. His plans are too big for that.

I’m convinced that, as long as we are fixated upon our own plans for our lives, we will never find the much greater, much more significant and meaningful plans that God has for us.

Much like my son, I have always had a lot of dreams of things I think would be awesome to do. I had a dream of spending my life in a band hall and on a performing stage. I have a dream of restoring a grand old house and running a bed & breakfast with my amazing wife. I have a dream of filling that grand old house with kids and grandkids and with friends and neighbors and with a church family that I love intensely. I’ve had dreams of traveling around the world and seeing all of the great sights. I’ve had dreams of a cottage off in a secluded wood where I could hide and write and make music and worship.

But I can say without any hesitation that there is nothing that I have dreamed of that I can imagine filling my heart with joy and meaning like the enormous privilege of helping people connect the truths of Scripture with real life.

But how did I get here? It’s pretty simple, really. Proverbs 3:5-6. It’s not just a meaningful text, it’s like the “you are here” mark on the map of the mall. It tells me where to start and how to find the next step.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3.5-6

It’s rich, but simple. Trust God with your whole being and don’t expect to understand the way He does because your perspective is always incomplete. In every decision ask His direction – acknowledge that He knows better than you. He will make the next step clear and plain.

What’s this have to do with my son with too many hats? Just like his dad, he is slow about deciding, slow about acting, and slow about a whole lot of other things. But, just like his dad, he seems to have embraced the promise of this passage from Proverbs.

He asked the right question.

He is headed off the college that God has pressed on his heart that he should attend. He is taking the step God has shown him and he’s unsure which way the next one will go. And I couldn’t be more excited for him. He’s looking the right direction and his God will keep His promise.

He’s going the right way…because he asked the right question. And I couldn’t be more proud.

Father, continue to bless Tommy and show him each step of the amazing path You have for him.