5 discussion: planning for the future web page

Where do you see yourself in five? Ten? Twenty? Thirty years?

This question pops up everywhere from job interviews, relationships, to financial planning. Knowing where you’re going is not only seen as responsible, but it’s expected. So, we do everything in our power to create and maintain this ‘life plan,’ erasing as much uncertainty as possible along the way.

Think about it. We buy health insurance and try to stay active. We insure our cars and homes. We plan our finances and schedule meetings, projects, and vacations months into the future. When’s the last time you went for a drive without your GPS navigating the quickest route to avoid traffic? We do everything in our power to avoid uncertainty and to know where we’re headed. To some extent, it works – our lives are often relatively safe and predictable.

But, what if God asked you to leave all that behind? Leave the job that’s paying the bills, leave your community of friends, and move to another place, starting all over. Would you do it? Would you trust your long-term plans to God?

Abraham was asked by God to do this. Leaving everything, he obeyed God’s call even when he didn’t know where he was going. How did he do this?

Faith: Abraham’s faith in God was greater than his faith in himself. He surrendered everything he knew, placing his long-term plans into God’s hands.

All In: It’s one thing to know what God wants and it’s another thing to do it. Abraham put faith into action by obeying God’s call. He was all in.

Call: Abraham was clear about his life’s calling. As Christians, our call is to follow Christ above all else, even when the call doesn’t quite make sense.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

• Discuss how the DBA has changed your future life.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Prepare a discussion post that answers the following questions:
   1. Describe where your life would have looked like in five years if you had not started a DBA.
   2. Now describe what your life will look like five years after completing the DBA. What will be different and what will be the same?
3. Your initial post should be 200 – 300 words long and is due by the fourth day of the workshop.
4. Respond in writing to two of your classmates.
5. Each written response should be 100 – 200 words in length and demonstrate a critical analysis of your classmate’s post.
6. These responses are due by the end of the workshop.