This Lenten season I've been following the World Vision ACT:S Relentless Acts of Sacrifice series that has emailed me weekly challenges that help me to consider sacrifice and incorporate it in different ways into my life. It's been overwhelming and awesome. I've participated peripherally and have saved everything so that I can continue to consider all the components they've compiled. It's great stuff.
One thing I watched tonight was a video on this week's theme: Sacrifice What Calls You. As a career counselor and someone intensely interested in our calling as Christians, I watched :) I want to share it with you because it's one man's story but he has some awesome points to ponder. And he uses great metaphors :) Here's one.
"I was disapointed by my calling and the perfect metaphor was Monty from Captain Planet."
And for an overview of this week's challenge (and some great comments by activists on calling) see this one
I want to be more like these people and look for ways to use my gifts, job, life, choices to pursue justice for our world in light of Jesus' love and sacrifice.
Spring is here. I saw it on I-40 last Wednesday. I saw it in the purple blooms all along the highway and even the calf walking with its mother in a pasture (seriously, it was cheesy but I truly saw these things in succession and said out loud - Spring is here.). Spring always brings about new life, in nature and a new sense of vitality in my life.
You know the time in the life of a flower when it's come forth from the ground, but not yet bloomed? That's where I am in terms of one of my goals (on my list of things to do before I'm 30 - be a counselor to missionaries). Through my roommate, Kate, and her family I learned about the International Mission Board annual meeting for their missionaries each summer. This summer it is in Athens, Greece July 17 – 24th. There will be over 500 families who are missionaries around Europe gathering for worship, fellowship, and renewal. I have been accepted to serve as a counselor on the Member Care Team and meet with individual missionaries to help them process their experiences – the good, bad, and ugly.
As many of you know, I have a background in career counseling, ministry, and a deep passion to help others develop themselves to the glory of God. Back in 2007 when I was with Campus Crusade for Christ International, I had the opportunity to be part of the conference team running logistics for their European STINT (1-year missionaries) Mid-Year conference held in Spain. I was involved in organizing the schedule and witnessing all that God was doing in those teams. One of the greatest things I witnessed was the incorporation of counselors who met the STINT members individually. I got to speak with the counselors about their experiences and loved what I heard. They were helping people in such a great way. It was one of the confirming moments for me that I should pursue a degree in counseling. It also became one of the things I wanted to do in my own career, one day.
Since then, I’ve finished my degree and have my Nationally Certified Counselor credential. I now work with current college students and get to discuss with them what their goals are. Then I work with them to meet those goals. It is a rewarding career and one that has allowed me to really utilize the gifts God has given me.
Now I'm so excited to see how several things in my life and personality are overlapping in this experience. I now get to do one of the things I've wanted to do since I realized it existed in 2007. It amazes me to see examples of God's faithfulness and His provision for our desires. I pray I don't forget this realization when faced with other unmet desires (like wanting to be married already). God plants seeds so intricately we don't even know they are there until they start sprouting!
Silence is uncomfortable for most people. It used to be really uncomfortable for me, but counseling school change that some. However, while I am happy to use silence in groups and when it's helping others, I don't find myself giving into the silence when it's just me and my soul. Recently I was told a great metaphor as someone described silence as "creating margins" in your life. I edit a LOT of resumes so the margins idea resonated with me.
Margins in a book give the book space. If you're like me, sometimes you have a revelation and want to write it in your book or underline with arrows to the thought you had while reading. The margins become important parts of my memory of that book. It's like the opposite of "edge to edge toppings" on a pizza. Americans live like Donatos Pizza (which is delicious, and off limits to me until Easter).
We fill all the spaces in our lives with toppings - ipods, cell phones, superficial conversations about the weather, coping mechanisms, movies, and TV (or in my case, Hulu). Parker Palmer puts it well: “I had simply found a “noble” way to live a life that was not my own, a life spent imitating heroes instead of listening to my heart.”
I want more margins in my life to listen more to my heart, life and the Holy Spirit God has given me. I want to trust the silence and see what happens.
In the theme of silence, I was stopped by the lyrics of this song recently and will leave you with it today.
