To The Reader— Miss Julia Spence is Dr. Paul Spence's Second Daughter. In Spring of 2009, Miss Julia completed her Twelve Grades of Homeschooling and finished High School. In commemoration of her Graduation, on Thursday Evening, May 17, 2009, Miss Julia gave a Speech in the Mission's Bookroom entitled "My Future." Below is a copy of Miss Julia's Speech.
My Future.
“ Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” –Jude 21.
This is a very important year in my life. I have just turned eighteen. Abraham Lincoln said once, “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”1 I have had a good Family throughout my life and eighteen years to learn from them. My Dad has constantly preached and spoken Truths that I can use my entire life. I am aware, though, that it is easy to leave the good path. The world is full of material things to draw the heart and soul away. I want to be ready for my future and what it holds, through prayer and through rules to use in daily life. There are two different viewpoints to see my future from, and those are the physical and spiritual perspectives. From the physical perspective, I consider my future career as a Nurse, my school of choice and the fact that I want to find a unique opportunity as a Nurse. I also want to always keep a good schedule in my life. Another aim that I have is to never open a credit card nor be in debt. Throughout my future, I want to spend much time in reading. As I go to College and acquire a Nursing job, I would like to remain living at the Mission. From the spiritual perspective, I want to always make sure that I am saved and living a holy life each day. I want to remain a member of The Independent Mission, and always stay faithful to it. I would like to grow in grace including humility, prayer, consideration, and holy fear and faith in GOD. In my Future, I want to continually pray for the salvation of souls, and be a Light spiritually in my Nursing career for the conversion of people. The last but most important spiritual goal is to reach Heaven when I pass away.
I. THE PHYSICAL VIEW.
My goal in life, ever since I was old enough to know what a career meant, was to become a Nurse. This career choice requires further schooling in College after my high school diploma, and I hope to take an entire college course to become a Registered Nurse or a R.N. My current college of choice is the Community College of Allegheny County. As a R.N., I want to be able to find a unique field and study it particularly. The U.S. Department of Labor, in the 2008-2009 Occupational Outlook Handbook, recorded that “Registered nurses constitute the largest health care occupation, with 2.5 million jobs.” 59 percent of these jobs are in Hospitals. R.N.s, according the U.S. Department of Labor, “generate one of the largest numbers of new jobs among all occupations.”2 There is an incredible, nearly unlimited amount of jobs in the health field to choose from once a person has an R.N. degree. The Department of Labor lists nearly all of them. I have considered this list and would like to begin Nursing in the Mon Valley Hospital after college has ended. My decision is to either work in neurology or otorhinolaryngology (the Greek phrase for ear, nose and throat). I want to work in a field where I can have a steady career and enjoy it every time I work in it. However, when I finally choose a career, I want to be sure that it will not infringe on my Sunday. It is important to me to keep the Sabbath and attend Church on that day. I also want to keep some days free for the Work Days here at the Mission. One goal I always want to keep in my life is a good schedule. One important aspect of this goal that I want always be important to me is rising early. There is much to be gained in life from rising early. I can pray and think on GOD in the early hours of the day. In my life, rising early will help me in my college years with more study time, and throughout my entire life, to have more time each day. In Jeremiah, it is said that the prophet often rose early to speak to the Jews.3 These verses were an inspiration to me to rise early several years ago. Rising early was a trademark of the Prophet Jeremiah’s life. I want this to be a part of my life also. King Solomon described the holy woman as someone who “riseth also while it is yet night.”4 Another goal in keeping a good schedule is to use every minute of my day. I want to make the most out of life, and out of these days in my future. I want to watch every minute of my day and how I spend it. As King Solomon said, “There is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”5 The famous inventor Benjamin Franklin said, “Lost time is never found again.”6 How true that is! When time is gone, you can never get it back. I want to use my time the best I can every day. I want to always see the keeping of time as a very important thing in my life. A further aim that I have is to never open a credit card. My Parents have been a motivation to me in this. In the past years of my life, I have seen how my Parents have completely paid off their credit card debt, and I still have a piece of the credit card they cut up. I wanted to always have that piece to remind me to never open a credit card. The credit card is infamous as a means of accruing debt. Besides my goal of not opening a credit card, I also want to entirely stay away from debt. This includes large purchases, like a car or house. I want to always save throughout my life. The future may have hard times in store, economy-wise, and I want to be prepared. Throughout my future, another goal I have is to spend much time in reading. Ever since I learned how to read, I have enjoyed reading. Reading is a great opportunity and a wonderful help, available to anyone. Louisa May Alcott said a humorous but truthful quote in one of her famous stories, a novel entitled “Work”: “She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.”7 Books have given me a lot of influence in my life. I have learned a lot about morals and the experiences people had in life. Reading so many books gave me a better understanding of English, and a great enjoyment of writing. The English statesman, Joseph Addler, who was born in 1672, said the famous quote: “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”8 I want to not only read many books throughout my future, but to also read good books. Dr. John Owen and Rev. Jeremiah Burroughs are two of my favorite authors. As I go to college and acquire a Nursing job, I would like to remain living at the Mission. This is the best place to live. It is always a special thing to be near my Family and enjoy their company, and I would like to remain living here throughout my single years. I remember the words of Ruth to her mother-in-law: “Where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”9 It would be an encouragement and help to live and stay at the Mission. I want to thank my Parents at this time for a wonderful home and the great influence they have had in my life. It would be sad to leave such a place. I hope to stay at the Mission a long time!
II. THE SPIRITUAL VIEW.
The foremost spiritual desire I have is to always make sure, through personal examination and prayer, that I am saved. In Spring of 2000, when I lived in Clarksville with my Family, I was saved. I still recall that day very clearly. I was cleaning the stove, and a verse that was read to me when school had begun that morning was going through my mind. It had been in my mind all day, and it was a verse concerning the Judgment Day. While I was cleaning, I could not forget what that verse said. It was a very stirring verse. The next few minutes, I was in prayer to the LORD for salvation. It was something to me to think that a sinner like me could escape Hell! It has been nine years now since that day. Yet, I want to make it my goal throughout life to make sure that I am a real, true Christian, and always living a holy life. It is an essential part of life, to consider my ways and establish myself in Christianity. Being a real Christian is even before attaining riches and greatness, and I want to make sure I am always a Christian. The Apostle Paul’s words are good: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.”10 Through prayerful examination of the life, I can discover if I am truly saved. One thing that will help me very much in my spiritual walk is if I always remain a member of The Independent Mission. I want to regularly attend this Church, and this Church only. Throughout my college years and nursing life, I would like to always continue on as a member of The Independent Mission. I know it is hard to find a good Church in these days. The world has many, many Churches, and who knows how many of them are not following the Word of GOD! Yet it is so very important to find a good Church and be blessed by it every week. I am extraordinarily blessed in the fact that I already belong to and am a part of such a good Church as The Independent Mission. The best Church that I could join, which holds to the Truths of GOD’S Word, is the one I already belong to. I want to remain a Member of this special place for as long as it stands. In my future, I have several goals spiritually I would like to attain. One spiritual goal of mine is to grow in humility. King Solomon said, “The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.”11 The Apostle Peter wrote in his Epistle: “Be clothed with humility.” Humility is a great possession. I want to have this grace and grow in it the more I live. It is inspiring to read the lives of the Independents in years past. A trait in their lives that was always noticeable was humility. This grace also shone throughout the lives of the great characters of Scripture. The Apostles and Disciples are good examples of this. To be possessed of this grace would be excellent indeed. I also want to grow in prayer. I want to love prayer and pray often. A great verse in Scripture on prayer is Psalm 141.2. “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”12 Prayer is a great thing. By it we can tell the LORD of all our trials and needs. We can come before GOD and safely approach His Throne of Grace. Keeping a set schedule of prayer times and also praying frequently is a goal of mine. I want to have true kindness and consideration towards others in my life. As a nurse, this is a very suitable spiritual grace for me. But even besides being a nurse, this is a goal I want to attain. The Book of Ephesians speaks of these holy spiritual attainments. Chapter 4 holds much inspiration. In the opening verses, the Apostle asks the Ephesians to walk “with all lowliness and meekness”. Then, towards the end of the chapter, these words are said: “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”13 Being kind and considerate is something I want to really grow in spiritually. Even King Solomon brought this up as a trait of the holy woman in Proverbs 31: “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.”14 This is an inspiring model of a Christian woman, and kindness is described as a virtue she holds. One further spiritual aim I have in my life is holy fear and faith in GOD. These are excellent graces for a Christian. Fear is an ability we all have, and I want to use it to fear GOD in a righteous way, fearing to step aside and leave the good path. I want to fear less and less the circumstances before me, and rather fear GOD. Faith is another godly grace. Having true faith in GOD enabled Hezekiah to withstand fearsome enemies.15 Faith gave Moses and all the Jews the strength to cross the Red Sea.16 Faith in GOD is a great grace for a Christian to grow in all his life, and I want more and more to grow in these graces, fear and faith. In my Future, I want to be a Light spiritually in my Nursing career towards the conversion of souls, and continually pray for the salvation of souls. I know that Nursing will give me a great opportunity to meet many people and converse with them. I want to be a Light for GOD amidst this career. I want to grow in courage and be able to stand up for GOD when I work as a Nurse. It is important in this day and age to give a good testimony before others, especially since there are so few Christians upholding a righteous testimony before men. Besides being a Light in daily life, I also want to pray for the conversion of souls that I meet. I want to do this more and more, to both encourage those I meet to seek the LORD, and to pray for them that they might be saved. There is a wide, large field of people I can speak to in my career as a Nurse, and a great chance here to use. I want to be strong and remain unmoved by the influence of those around me, using the strength of the LORD. And instead of being influenced by the world, I want to influence others to the ways of the LORD, and towards doing what is right before GOD. At the end of my life, my aim is to reach Heaven. This is the ultimate aim of the Christian, and my goal in the end. There is no higher goal in life than to reach Heaven. This is the destination that rewards a real Christian in the end. This world will not last, and eternity looms ahead – there is no definite knowledge as to when we all will die. I want to be prepared, and in the end, reach Heaven. Only a real Christian who has lived a holy life will receive this reward. Florence Nightingale, the heroic Nurse of the Crimean War, said: “I think one's feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results.”17
“Registered Nurses, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, Copyright 2009 U.S. Department of Labor. http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm, visited January 18, 2009.