Jamie Janosz

Sitting a midst piles of brown cardboard boxes, I’m the classic “day after move in” mess.  I still haven’t found our microwave or our kitchen table in the packing container, so I’m balancing my computer precariously on my lap and drinking coffee from my rapidly cooling mug knowing there is no chance of reheating. But I am also filled with a thankful heart. God has been with us throughout our cross-country move. Day after day I have seen His provision and His guiding hand, and I am deeply and utterly grateful. Last summer, in the midst of selling our house, I visited with a professor at Moody Bible Institute, Dr. Ron Sauer. I was interviewing him about his practice of praying, daily, for his students. Before classes begin, he walks through the room, stopping at each desk and remembering each of his students, individually, in prayer. He said that he believes that God answers these prayers and cares about each of us, deeply and individually. Then, he asked to...

This week, I talked to two women facing unclear futures. One was a student in her senior year of college. She asked for prayer on Twitter. When we talked in person the next day, she confessed that her unknown future was spiraling her into panic.  “I’ve always known what lies ahead,” she explained. “Now I don’t.” My other friend confessed over lunch that she had too many different options ahead of her – equally compelling and frightening. She had returned to college as an adult and pursued her degree while raising children, commuting, and even helping arrange her daughter’s wedding. She had been crazy busy. Now that she had finally graduated, she was looking ahead to what was next. More school? Work? The choices were bewildering. I can relate so well because I have been there. I always preferred to have a plan, a road map for my future. I liked being in school and knowing what my next assignment would be. I like looking forward to specific events, the planning. I’m mo...