"Roads" Scholar Series: In life there are so many roads to choose from. So many paths that can and will lead to so many different outcomes. And while I’m not a Rhodes scholar, I do feel like I am a “Roads” Scholar, so over the next few blog posts, I’d like to share what I’ve learned from six specific roads I’ve taken: the Low Road, the High Road, the Long Road, the Road Less Traveled, the Fork in the Road, and the Yellow Brick Road. 

This week’s lesson learned shares some outcomes from taking the LONG Road.

Taking the LONG Road - The Story We Wrote Versus The One We’re Living

3 minute Read
By Bethany Rees

The “Long Road” Definition: Taking a path that seemed more difficult and time consuming before arriving at a destination. 

Oh the dreams we have when we’re kids. We all dream of having an “important” profession, the “perfect” marriage and family, and of course making a “ton” of money. 

While we have big dreams for our lives as adults, the reality is that most of us never reach the destination of our childhood dreams. 

As adults we ended up at some other destination. A different destination that we never intentionally planned on coming to. 

Some of us experienced trauma, mental or physical health crises, family/marriage issues, career let downs, and many other situations we never thought we’d experience. 

While I could talk about taking the hard path in any of those areas (see some of my past blogs about trauma, mental health, and marriage), I want to share my long road for a career here. 

You see, I "wrote" my career and life story when I was young. I knew exactly how my life was going to go…because I was born to be a mom and teach! Seriously, my whole life I wanted to have a bunch of babies and be a history teacher. As a young college graduate, I “knew” my career purpose was to bring history to life in a classroom full of teenagers. Except for the fact that I wasn’t hired as a history teacher at a high school. 

I was hired as a gifted and talented teacher for kindergarten, 1st & 2nd grade students. 

Say what now? My experience to that point was in teaching history to high school students, not teaching everything under the sun to kiddos that couldn’t even tie their shoes. 

And I was pretty ticked off that the life story I wrote in my head wasn't going as planned. I was supposed to be a history teacher in small-town Arkansas that was going to have a lot of land, 4 kids, and then work 30 years until retirement. (And as a funny side note, I remember telling my mom that I was even going to live in a trailer in her front yard.)

To skip ahead, that’s not what has happened in my life at all. Over the course of the next 15 years, I only had two kids, moved to the Houston area which has so many people that we’re lucky to even have a yard.

"Um, excuse me God, did you not get a copy of the life story I wrote for myself?" 

I'm pretty sure God looked at my plans for my life and laughed and then He looked at a few decisions I had made along the way and said "well, you jacked that one up, let me see how I can use that mistake for good."

All along my long road, God was guiding me from one position to the next and to the next. I went from teaching kids to coaching teachers to being a high school administrator to owning my own leadership development business and now podcasting and blogging. To say I ever saw entrepreneurship, podcasting, or blogging in my future would be a joke. 

The story I had written for my life was majorly edited by my long road travels, but through that long road, I now find myself standing in my current destination/situation writing weekly blogs to you…and you’re amazing! I can’t imagine being anywhere else but with you right here at this moment…

The long road is where God refines us. The long road teaches us humility, gives us wisdom, and prepares us for what lies ahead. 

We all need to remember that while we don’t necessarily choose the long road for who we WANT to be, it’s the “long road” where God molds us into who we are SUPPOSED to be. 

 Every step of your long road has a lesson to teach you that you can share with others who are just now experiencing that same road. So share your stories! Share your lessons learned! Encourage others just beginning their journey on the long road!

So no matter what long road you’ve traveled, and the peaks and valleys you’ve experienced on it, know that your long road isn’t for nothing…it’s to produce a better version of you. 

And while you may not have ended up with the career, family, or money you wanted when you were young, be confident in knowing that today’s version of “you” is so much more faithful, wiser, and stronger than the younger version of you could ever be!

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Embrace the Long Road!

Rocks before Sand!

Scripture: 

“2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

~ James 1:2-4

Theme Song:  

Dear Younger Me - Mercy Me

References Used:

• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.