Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Not seeking a job... but a place of impact

I know that title may sound naive or irritating or dizzy with spin. As I make this transition in my career, I don't want to just get a job that I can do. I can do lots of jobs. I want to find the place that is right. The place I'll care about and be passionate to improve. This is not to say I would not be thankful and content wherever God takes me, but I do think God made us with a purpose. If I'm going to spend 40+ hours and a large part of my energy at a place, my desire is to be operating in my purpose -- helping people and organizations create and deliver excellence in places where creativity and technology meet.

That's just me... others may look at the job/purpose thing differently. Do you think we are just spoiled Americans if we seek to earn a living doing what we love to do?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does "it depends" count as an answer? I think it's important to build on our strengths in many seasons of life, but as I'm sure you would acknowledge, there are times when we don't have the choices we would like.

Some of my good friends really have to put their nose to the grindstone and doing some drudgery type jobs to make a living so they can stay alive while they pursue something more. And all the while they're doing things (loving people, creating community) that are probably God's will.

And then you have my ancestors who did a lot of hard labor work and made use of their strengths in different ways. They needed to provide for their family and built the foundation that's allowed me to work in an air conditioned office.

I think it's good to seek work of purpose and vision that use our strengths, but I also think that we have a far too narrow view of what that means often.

Epoch Church said...

wow that is a tough thing...i think parke answered pretty well on that one...

i dont think there's anything wrong with wanting to be happy at a job...(you'd be crazy if you desired to be miserable)...but the main thing too look for is are you where the lord wants you...

you know just as well as i do that being in god's will doesn't mean happiness all the time...to be honest...sometimes we have to do things that just suck...

but if you feel the job you get is what the lord wants and you really enjoy it...praise the lord! think of it as a gift from god and be thankful...

so what am i saying in all this?...basically the same thing as parke...

pray about it...find the job...and show love...