[The telephone rings.]

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's me, God."

Imagine a world where God is only a phone call away. A world where when you're feeling confused you can just pick up the phone, dial, and say, "Hey, God. I haven't heard back from you about that promotion I've been praying about..."

I know I often fantasize about a world where God has a smart phone. Of course, God does have his own means of communication. In the Old Testament, God tended to communicate to his people in dramatic ways, particularly through miracles. From burning bushes to parting seas, God had a not-so-subtle way of guiding his chosen leaders and making sure they knew what they were supposed to do. Whether or not you believe in miracles, or consider them to be dead, the question of how God communicates in the present day is a concern that governs our lives. And if miracles are dead, what kind of DM are we waiting for from God?

Many of you high school or college students are probably doing one of two things at this point in your life: working hard every day to achieve your dream job, taking step after step towards what you've always wanted, planning 10 moves in advance, or (if you're anything like me) planning and worrying hard every day to no avail because you have no idea what you're doing next or how you're going to do it.

I like to tell people that the reason I have no solid plan yet for after graduation is because I'm trying to keep myself open to any way God wants to use me. And that's all well and good, but to an advisor or a parent who is tired of your free-loading, it's a little more worrisome. But, no matter how many times they tell me God is probably not going to slap me in the face with a nicely drawn out document labeled "Your Future," I'm not entirely convinced he won't lead me where he wants me.

So maybe I can't get a phone call from God telling me to get it together and apply for that internship that will launch my future career, but I can let myself be led there by God's providence. To God, whose love extends to all and who lives outside the constraints of time, big and small, short and long, are all the same. Maybe God is actually leading us through the subtle and the seemingly insignificant; maybe just because nothing is happening on our watch, it doesn't mean that nothing is happening.

In fact, I like to tell the story about how I ended up at Carson-Newman to illustrate this point. My senior year of high school I was in prime stress mode. Juggling competitive level 10 gymnastics, AP and dual-enrollment classes and choosing a college had me so stressed out, I was having break-downs over what kind of shampoo to buy. It wasn't pretty. Somehow I narrowed down my college search to Carson-Newman University and King University. I actually signed with King as a part of their Acro & Tumbling team, but still decided to interview for a competitive scholarship program at CNU, just to weigh my options. After my interview I received an email saying they were sorry, but there was not space for me in the program. I was bummed, but at least I had King... until I tore my ACL and both meniscus at my first gymnastics meet of the season. By March, I had quickly become a girl out of options and pain meds, who wondered what God could be up to. Days after my accident, crutching into my old gym, I received a phone call from CNU telling me they had discovered more money in the program and a spot was mine if I wanted it.

Obviously, you know how the story ends. I now attend Carson-Newman and there is no doubt in my mind that it is the place God was leading me. No, God never told me in a booming voice from Heaven that I was supposed to go to Carson-Newman, but the obstacles obstructing one path created a new one. Little events like a gymnastics competition and a failed interview showed me that with a bit of faith, I can be led.

So, no, God doesn't have a cell phone, but he did give me a call that changed my life.