RECYCLED THOUGHTS: 22JAN06 (or, "context")
i'm a pretty good problem-solver. i'm also proficient, if slightly less prolific, @ creating problems. is there a career that i might base on one or both of these talents?
singer-songwriter; essayist, columnist & novelist; orator & statesman; honorary PhD, lecturer & professor; missionary, apologist & preacher; talk-show host; president; actor & philanthropist...
think anyone has an opening for one of these? perhaps @ the intern level?...
have i no practical skills? have i, with my (i think) considerable knack for picking up new things, never bothered to try my hand @ anything useful? not one thing? have i been allowed to live this long in vain? what has my life meant, up to now?
all this, from a simple passage which served as my 2-minute Bible study. work in all things as unto the LORD. it began to sink in, as i (finally) cleaned the slush machine: i can labor as unto the LORD, but how can i serve Him, in a middle-management capacity?
no man can serve two masters. how to reconcile this point of faith w/the previous? i must either serve Him @ my employer's expense, or vice-versa.
this is what blogs are for. i need outside input.
singer-songwriter; essayist, columnist & novelist; orator & statesman; honorary PhD, lecturer & professor; missionary, apologist & preacher; talk-show host; president; actor & philanthropist...
think anyone has an opening for one of these? perhaps @ the intern level?...
have i no practical skills? have i, with my (i think) considerable knack for picking up new things, never bothered to try my hand @ anything useful? not one thing? have i been allowed to live this long in vain? what has my life meant, up to now?
all this, from a simple passage which served as my 2-minute Bible study. work in all things as unto the LORD. it began to sink in, as i (finally) cleaned the slush machine: i can labor as unto the LORD, but how can i serve Him, in a middle-management capacity?
no man can serve two masters. how to reconcile this point of faith w/the previous? i must either serve Him @ my employer's expense, or vice-versa.
this is what blogs are for. i need outside input.
posted by starbuck at 01:53
9 Comments:
"work in all things AS unto the Lord"...i think this means that even if directly you're working for your employer, really your work is unto the Lord. There's another verse (in Colossians, maybe?) that goes into more detail: "Do everything wholeheartedly, AS unto to the Lord and not unto men".
the way you work: your excellence, your patience, your kindness, etc...all these reflect someone working as if he were working directly for God. that doesn't mean your employer is godlike at all, but you still have to submit to him and work as unto the Lord.
this may be an extreme example, but the people who crucified Jesus weren't right in what they were doing, but Christ still submitted to them. really he was submitting to his Father, but by all appearances he let himself, the perfect Son of God, be crucified by a bunch of sinners.
i think that's how we are meant to submit and work as unto the Lord. this is, of course, counter to the culture we live in, that tells us not to let anyone 'walk all over us' and to always fight for our independence.
i think it requires a great amount of faith in God's purpose that exceeds anything we can understand, and a great amount of humility (that's my big problem) to serve when we feel we could lead much better than those above us...
i absolutely do NOT want to lead, in my current career at any rate. i'd rather be a grunt, if only it paid better. to not have to worry @ anyone's work but my own seems an idyllic existence.
fro, your point is valid, well-articulated, & especially helpful, inasmuch as it helps me better frame my quandry:
were not the centurions also doing their work as unto the LORD? they were ordered to do a terrible, but (for argument's sake, at least,) necessary thing. they submitted, & crucified the Son of GOD.
when i submit to the authority that Paul tells us GOD put over us, & in so doing act against the counsel of His spirit in my breast, am i any better than them? am i not pressing the spear into His side, all over again?
you have many jobs, and while i understand your frustration at the one for which you get paid a salary, don't lose sight of the other jobs you hold - which are the most important ones.
[these are obviously only my opinions, but here they are for what they are worth]
your first "job"/responsibility is to God, and i suspect he is very proud of the work you are doing.
your second "job"/responsibility is to your children, and it seems to me that you are doing a superb job there as well.
your third "job"/responsibility is to your wife, and i'll have to defer to jenn on that one :-)
your fourth "job"/responsibility is to yourself. look in the mirror and ask yourself how you are doing. the boss you see in the mirror is generally the most critical one you will ever face. he can be a real hardass - make sure that he is giving you credit where credit is due.
there are several other "jobs" to consider before you get to the one that puts food on the table. i don't mean to trivialize that wage-earning job, but make sure you keep it in perspective. if you are doing the first four jobs well, but are somewhat lacking in the wage job, you are way ahead of most of us.
that's what's so maddening! i have all these other, higher priorities, that get crammed into my schedule wherever they'll fit (or even almost fit), b/c i spend so much time @ work.
& i have to make work a scheduling prioroty, b/c if i don't, i don't make the (less important) $ to support my (more important) family. AARGH!!!
yeah, i can definitly identify with that delimma. i remember working two and sometimes three jobs to make ends meet when you guys were little. it sucked then, and i know it still does.
luckily things got better as i got promoted, but that took years. the good side of it was that my low-paying military job did provide a couple of critical advantages - medical/dental coverage for the family and a [quasi] retirement plan.
you're in a bit different situation, but here is my advice, don't try to fix a gaping chest wound with a band-aid.
the problem is serious and it will take a serious remedy to recover. finding another job with the same problems won't help. neither will working more hours at the current job to make more $$$.
you need a plan . . .
it seems to me that the biggest problem is the job - i think everything else will fall into place if you can find a job that provides the necessary benefits (pay, insurance, reasonable hours, a job you like, retirement benefits, etc.)
again, i won't trivialize the complex and difficult task of getting the right skills and finding the right job, but i guarantee you will never get there without a solid plan.
it will be hard to spend more time away from the important things (kids, wife, sleep!), but if you don't invest the time and effort now, you will find yourself having this same introspective conversation next year, and the year after, and the year after . . .
sorry, i wish i tell you that there is a easy and/or quick solution, but i don't think there is. as always, you will be in my prayers, thoughts and dreams. let me know what i can do to help.
as for the band-aid, i totally agree. i'm much better off staying put 'til i have somewhere better to go. extra hours don't get me an extra dime; i'm salaried.
but if i were to stay w/ sonic long enough, i'd eventually get raises, promotions, etc. my boss pays for medical for the whole family, too. problem is, all the fringe benefits in the world won't change the fact that i disagree w/ the way he treats employees, myself included.
I've been reading these posts with interest and I thought I'd weigh in with my $0.02.
I guess I want to offer my encouragement concerning your thoughts on going back to school. I've taught a lot of folks and, without fail, returning students and students with families have been the best I have ever taught. They are more committed, have a sense of direction, and simply work more efficiently than your regular run-of-the-mill student. I think you would fit this m.o. as well.
To be sure, you have to think about your family first, but I think you should also take comfort in the fact that you have the natural ability to excel in a college environment. If I've learned anything about Masons in the past few years, it's that their natural habitat is a university setting or, more generally, anywhere that they can work hard and stretch their intellectual faculties.
That natural ability to organize, think critically, and stick to your guns already puts you ahead of the vast majority of college students out there and I think any professor in the country would find you a welcome addition to his or her classroom. It also helps you out with your family responsibilities. You can get more done in a shorter amount of time, and you can "wing it" better than most students when you need to do so. The added pressure of getting things done for the sake of your family also would encourage you to make the most of your study time.
So, I think any concerns you have about doing well in school, and balancing that with your other responsibilities, should be set to the side. Your natural talents will carry you a lot of the way in that department. Your energies, if you commit to school, should thus be focused more on logistics: how to pay for it, how to get money for books, how to balance a job with school and family, how to rearrange responsibilities and schedules with Jennifer, etc. Meeting a lot of these issues will certainly be easier said than done, but Ron's suggestions on setting deadlines and having a plan are a great place to start. I also echo him and Jenna and offer my encouragement that this can be done. It won't be a cake walk if you decide to do it, but education is an investment that always pays back more than it takes.
i agree with darren ( and most of everything everyone else said, as well). greg and i are both talking about going back to school. him for psychiatry, me for english, psychology and writing. i know what my dream jobs are; i also know what my realistic career choices are - i have chosen to do what i can to prepare myself for both. i recommend you do the same.
i my never be successful as in my dream job but i know i can be successful in restaurants if the other doesn't work out. and i'm okay with that. decide what you want to be and what you're willing to be. prepare for both.
amen to darren's and david's comments!!!!
i know you weren't "ready" for college right after high school. that's not unusual. but i think you are ready now and i think once you get a taste of it, you will be addicted!
if you aren't sure of a path (career field) yet, you can start with gen. ed. courses (math, english, history) and pick a major later.
"damn the torpedos, full speed ahead"
~ admiral farragut (1864 - battle of mobile bay)
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