FROM THE TOP Jim Hogg Historical Park, Rusk
LELAND ACKER chreporter@mediactr.com
She had no idea of the turns her life would take over the next few months. A senior at Mira Mesa (Calif.) High School, starter for the winning field hockey team and president of the Christian Club, my Southern Californian beauty would soon learn that her future would take her to Nacogdoches.

Her father, a 20-year veteran of the Marines, would be retiring and moving close to his sister in Texas.

So, in the middle of her glorious senior year in the San Diego suburbs, she was plucked out of a lovely southern Californian atmosphere and dropped into a land with a culture she could not understand. Welcome to East Texas!

We met later and eventually got married. Since then, we've had three beautiful, smart and talented children.

A couple looks at a preowned Cadillac Escalade. The mileage is low and it is like brand new. They really want this car, but are uneasy about whether they can afford it. The salesman says they need to make a decision, because three other couples are also looking at the SUV.

"If we don't sign the papers now, it'll be gone forever and we'll never get an Escalade," they think.

A young professional is striving to climb the ladder of success. There is a job opening in Phoenix. This could be his big break. He HAS to get this job, or he is stuck in a dead end position in Texarkana, he thinks.

Phoenix is a risky move, and may be too much too soon. Is his career truly in limbo?

Romans 1:17 says "The just shall live by faith."

The "just" are people who have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. "Faith" means a deep-rooted trust.

We all face challenging situations like these mentioned. Living by faith means trusting God to lead you to the right decision and to work out the details. God will not drop the ball.

My Southern Californian beauty was not excited about leaving California (and who could blame her? Those beaches are lovely). But she trusted God and is happy with the result. (It's the kids, has to be.)

The couple fretting over the Escalade should know that if the financing doesn't come through, God may have something better for them.

The young professional should trust God that if He wants him to have this job, he'll get it. If not, God may be sparing him from a bad situation.

The moral of these stories: DON'T FREAK OUT! If you trust God, the chips usually fall in the right spots.