Blessings

Blessings. By Kim Vogel Sawyer.

Nineteen year old Trina Muller was truly blessed. She had a steady job at the local café and the interest of a good Mennonite boy, Graham Ortmann. She had a family who loved her and a sizeable savings account at the community bank from her years at the café. So why was her heart so unsettled? She ached to be a veterinarian. Every chance she could she bought used books on animal care, soaking up every tidbit of knowledge that she could. Her cousin, Andrew, even called her to help with their injured sorrel when Doc Groening couldn’t come quickly enough. But Mennonites aren’t allowed education past the ninth grade, its against the Fellowship; veterinarians are required to have five years of collegiate study beyond a high school diploma.

When Doc Groening offers Trina a job in his clinic, Trina is elated. She even managed to convince her parents to let her quit her job at the café to go work for Doc Groening, but she quickly learns that without a degree her duties are limited to mucking stalls and cleaning cages.

Education beyond the ninth grade has always been prohibited by the Fellowship, and pursuing a veterinary degree would clearly go against their teachings. But God’s urging in her heart compels her to press forward and she pursues her GED online without her parent’s permission.

When her parents find out about her efforts, she is barred from continuing and quickly feels like an outcast. Even her beau, Graham, doesn’t understand her anymore and sides with the community. It would be far easier to stop...but God continues to tug at her heart. Can Trina stay faithful to God’s calling in her life and remain a part of the Mennonite fellowship? Will her desire to be a veterinarian squash any chance she has at happiness with Graham?

Kim Vogel Sawyer is a wife to Don, mother to three girls, and grandmother to three boys, and lives in Kansas. She is very active in her church and also travels to women’s groups to share her testimony and love of writing. Visit her Web site at www.KimVogelSawyer.com.