For anyone who’s ever felt like the clock ran out before their calling even began.
Maybe I’m Supposed to Create Anyway
A blog series for the sacred wrestle of saying yes to your creative calling.
Welcome to a slow, sacred space—where we honor the quiet moments of becoming, the in-between tension of faith and doubt, and the gentle courage it takes to keep building what God keeps whispering.
Click here to view the full list of blog posts in this series.
You’re Not Too Late
You’d think this would be obvious to someone in the military.
We serve twenty years and can retire. Many of us join at eighteen—some even younger—and that means retirement at thirty-eight, maybe forty. That’s an entire second life to live. A whole other career. A whole other chapter.
In my case, I joined at seventeen. I’ll be eligible to retire at thirty-seven. Can you believe that?
On paper, that should feel empowering. But if I’m honest… sometimes, I still feel old. Like time has moved too fast, and maybe I’ve missed something important.
Have you ever felt behind?
Maybe you’ve looked around, too, and felt behind. Maybe you’ve watched others bloom while wondering if your season passed when you weren’t looking. Maybe, like me, you’ve felt a quiet ache—the kind that whispers, “It should’ve happened by now.”
I watch fresh 17- and 18-year-olds join every month, wide-eyed and excited. I used to be one of them. And now, many of my peers are retiring. The people who trained me, the ones I looked up to, are laying down their uniforms and walking into the next season.
When I first enlisted, I barely knew anyone. But as the years passed, I started to recognize the rhythm. I knew the names, the roles, the routines. My world became familiar.
And now?
I walk into rooms and realize I know fewer and fewer faces. There’s a quiet ache in that—because it’s not just the people who’ve changed. I’ve changed too.
What if your calling hasn’t passed… just shifted?
I went to a retirement not long ago for a friend who had served over 40 years. Forty years. I thought about how much had shifted in those decades. What they saw. What they carried. What they built.
And it made me pause and wonder: Am I late for something I was supposed to begin?
That question has lingered in my heart more than I’d like to admit. Because it’s not always about age. Sometimes it’s about momentum. The world keeps moving, and I wonder if I missed my moment.
But then—grace.
That gentle reminder from God that His timing is different.
It doesn’t matter if the world says you’re late if the Kingdom says you’re right on time.
God never imposed a deadline on your becoming
I think of Moses, called at 80. Of Sarah, still waiting after decades. Of Caleb, who said at 85, “Give me this mountain.” And of that fig tree in Mark 11—the one that hadn’t produced fruit because, as Scripture plainly says, “it was not the season for figs.”
Even Jesus acknowledged it wasn’t time yet. The season mattered.
And maybe that’s what I’m finally beginning to believe:
That what looks like delay might actually be preparation. That the years I spent serving, raising children, holding down careers, or just surviving weren’t wasted—they were forming me. Maturing me.
Maybe I’m not behind. Maybe I’m just… becoming.
And so are you.
You were made to create—and there’s no expiration on that
Because we were made in the image of a Creator. Before we were ever parents, professionals, or planners—we were made to create.
And the God who formed us never imposed a deadline on that creative calling.
Ask Abraham. Ask Moses. Ask David. None of their ages matched what the world would’ve expected. Their timelines didn’t align with human logic, but they aligned with divine intention.
God doesn’t ask if we’re early or late. He asks if we’re willing.
So here’s the truth:
If you’re here, reading this, wondering if it’s too late to start something new, or pick something back up, or finally pursue the thing that keeps whispering in your spirit— Let me say this:
You’re not too late.
Not if God is still stirring it. Not if He hasn’t let the dream die.
You can begin again. Or begin for the first time. You can bring your whole life with you—experience, pain, wisdom, joy. You can show up now. And it will be enough.
The world may value “early,” but God honors “faithful.”
And I believe with my whole heart: If He still placed it in you, He still intends to use it.
So no, you’re not too late. You’re right on time for what’s yours.
“The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.”
—Psalm 138:8a
Even now, He’s still writing. Even here, He’s still calling. Even you, still becoming.
Take your time. Take your place. Begin.
Reflection Prompt:
Is there something you’ve believed it’s “too late” to start? What if the delay was part of your design?
Blog #13 of 16: You’re Not Too Late
From the series Maybe I’m Supposed to Create Anyway
Come back when you need a reminder that becoming doesn’t have a deadline.
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