Y2K

5/31/2020

2000

For those of us old enough to remember this fateful New Year’s Eve and what they were doing when the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2000, will also remember not much came of all the hype. Year 2000 will go down in history as a memory of “nothing happened.” It was a relief when we realized that the computer did not crash and the food pantry would stay stocked and the gas prices stayed the same. Most of us were relieved, right? In recent weeks, we have, in a way, seen what we did not see that fateful night.

For me the year 2000 was a new beginning. The world had recently come crashing down a few months before this with a second cancer scare in a matter of a couple of years. It made me wonder if the rest of my life would be lived in fear that cancer is just a doctor’s visit away. That because the word cancer passed a doctor’s lips, traveled as sound waves through the air, and entered my ears one other time, that too, might be a side effect. Might possibly happen again. Well, it had been too close for comfort. But I could not live like that. The recent hype was subsided and my life consisted of teaching and enjoying time with friends. I was truly grateful for feelings of relief, a constant calmness with everyday life, and a reminded reflection on how good God was to me. My career was in its second year, and my placement was fulfilling and enlightening on a day to day basis. I knew God was guiding my steps in a direction with end results that He knew. Y2K-Yield 2 the King.

Back to my teaching experiences. The only door that was not open was that one that led to my spouse. God had not opened the door and at twenty four, it seemed the best way was let God handle it. There were many things that had come my way up to this point in my life, and I had made it my mantra-Y2K. The percentage is pretty high where I did this, but that small percentage where there was not a yield to the King, I tried things my own way and was disappointed. Yet, God does bring those times in our lives. Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man’s heart deviseth his way; but the Lord directeth his steps.” He is still there to direct our paths yet gives us a choice.

1. Choice to choose Him as our Savior. Matthew 7:13 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.”
2. Choice to confess our sins. I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
3. Choice to serve God. I Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
4. Choice to make the right choice. I Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

During this famous year, I continued teaching, going on field trips, spending time with friends and family, and serving God in my church. My summer consisted of a single’s camp in Colorado, and I realized my prayers for my future husband were extremely important. I knew my choice for a spouse was the biggest thing in my life at the time next to my relationship with the Lord. He was to guide me if I would just choose to Y2K, and at that point my lack of yielding was the only thing going to stop Him from showing me the one to spend the rest of my life with. Why, though, had God chosen me to wait this long?

My third year of teaching began, and I felt more ready for this year than ever before. The class consisted of fantastic students and parents, and the familiarity of the curriculum helped things go smoothly. We had a wonderful year and a great time together. The 2001 summer began with another single’s camp where I dedicated my future spouse and marriage to God. I knew that if He wanted me to serve Him as a single young lady than that is what I would do. The test on that decision came shortly after that fateful week when my younger brother got married to my best friend. Boy, really? Y2K!!! Yield to the King. So that is what I did, and then my future husband, who was a friend and an acquaintance, walked into my life as something more. We both knew that we were the one we had both been waiting 25 years.

Choices, they are ours. How we decide which choice is easier or somewhat easier when we yield our lives and those choices to a God who directs us as His children. Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Yielding to God each and every step of the way, gets us to a place where God can use us, and then we can make more right choices. A circle in progress.