I realized something today - I have never, in all my time living, met an insignificant person.
I was at a gathering tonight, and my dear friend David said, in a prayer, that God saw fit to have this exact person living at this exact time in history.
Think about this for a second. If every person living were placed in this time in history - not two hundred years in the past - not two hundred years in the future - this exact generation and this exact person, then every person you've ever met has great significance! God "saw fit" - thought it proper - to create this person, with their particular issues and voice and height and weight, and caused the infinitely complex universe to cross your paths. This makes the seemingly causeless universe be injected with galaxies worth of purpose and planning.
Science, I dare you to find answers to every mystery this world contains - but you will never begin to fathom the depth of purpose and intentionality that any given person contains within their lives. God saw fit to make it so - therefore no one is purposeless, and no one is insignificant.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
The Problem with Job Hunting
It's not that there aren't jobs. It's just that there are so many jobs for people with far different skills than you have who have been practicing those skills for far longer.
As I look over sites like Monster and Indeed, I see postings for people with no skills, and postings for people with a great deal of skills - but very few for people with the ability to acquire skills. Perhaps this quality - and I call it a quality because I find that second only to "curiosity," it is an essential part of a great person - is difficult to prove. One's aptitude to figure out new things quickly and to rise to the challenges of any job is not a quantitative skill, and so, on paper, it appears that your only worth lies in the skills you have already acquired.
What jobs did you work in college? If you worked at all, you probably did not work in a field you want to see yourself in ten years down the road. Personally, I made it through college by waiting tables at Olive Garden. This is because, when I started college, I was not qualified to be a full-time writer, editor, teacher, or professional of any kind. But now that I've finished school, it seems potential employers only care about the work I have already done - not the work I am now capable of doing.
But it seems that by working for car dealerships at just above minimum wage and waiting tables to pay for school has only qualified me to continue doing what I did to get qualified to do something else.
But I will keep hunting - and hunting is the right word, because the animal known as "dream job" is an elusive and shy creature.
As I look over sites like Monster and Indeed, I see postings for people with no skills, and postings for people with a great deal of skills - but very few for people with the ability to acquire skills. Perhaps this quality - and I call it a quality because I find that second only to "curiosity," it is an essential part of a great person - is difficult to prove. One's aptitude to figure out new things quickly and to rise to the challenges of any job is not a quantitative skill, and so, on paper, it appears that your only worth lies in the skills you have already acquired.
What jobs did you work in college? If you worked at all, you probably did not work in a field you want to see yourself in ten years down the road. Personally, I made it through college by waiting tables at Olive Garden. This is because, when I started college, I was not qualified to be a full-time writer, editor, teacher, or professional of any kind. But now that I've finished school, it seems potential employers only care about the work I have already done - not the work I am now capable of doing.
But it seems that by working for car dealerships at just above minimum wage and waiting tables to pay for school has only qualified me to continue doing what I did to get qualified to do something else.
But I will keep hunting - and hunting is the right word, because the animal known as "dream job" is an elusive and shy creature.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Relational Equity
To all of my readers (I think we're up to four now, if you count my parents) who noticed that I haven't been writing on this blog in about two months, rest assured, I am still here. It hasn't exactly been a hiatus though - between preparing for and actually going to Indonesia this summer, the only thing I've had time to write is job applications. Though if you are interested in our international travel, feel free to browse the blog I maintained while overseas.
In Matthew 25, an example is given of business owner who goes away on a long trip. "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey." In the end, the man who was given five bags invested it and got more, and the man who was given two bags did the same. But the man who was given one bag buried it in the ground and gave back the same amount when his boss returned.
We have things, even if those things are the invisible influence or relational equity with other people, for a reason: to invest it well. If someone looks up to me, I have a responsibility to that person to leverage the relationship for some kind of good.
Look around you at who you have influence over. What if you were given that influence so that you can speak truth into their lives that they wouldn't hear from anyone else? Look around you at who you have a negative balance with - what can you do to build that account balance?
There is an idea that I've heard a few different ways that I'd like to write about today. I think it originated from Stephen Covey's book Seven Habits for Highly Effective People. It's the concept of relational equity, or the emotional bank account. It goes something like this: every relationship you have is kind of like a bank account - sometimes you put things that give it a positive balance and build a strong account, sometimes you make withdrawals, which can leave it with a negative balance. Understanding the relationships you are in, and how your "account" is with that person, is highly important - especially in a work environment or in any kind of counseling.
The account, though, is meant to be used for something good - right? Money does not exist simply to have it - we are meant to use money in a responsible way. I've had a couple friendships at work that seemed like the account kept building and building, but I never "cashed in" on that balance or made a withdrawal.
We have things, even if those things are the invisible influence or relational equity with other people, for a reason: to invest it well. If someone looks up to me, I have a responsibility to that person to leverage the relationship for some kind of good.
Look around you at who you have influence over. What if you were given that influence so that you can speak truth into their lives that they wouldn't hear from anyone else? Look around you at who you have a negative balance with - what can you do to build that account balance?
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