a question between friends
there’s something i’ve been mulling over the last couple of days. it stems from various changes in my heart and my passions over the last year or so i guess. it is the question between what i WANT to do and what i AM doing.
what i am doing is church communications with some counseling women thrown in. i love these things dearly and gain great blessing from them. but all i really want to do is get the heck of out here, travel the world, making a difference by showing the love of Christ to people, through aid and education. this is also known as a missionary. is that too much to ask for?
so my question to you is this: what are you doing verses what you want to do?
if what you ARE doing is what you WANT to do… great. share that. but to the others of you – be honest. even if what you really want to do is to go to clown school. :)
what I’m doing right now is being a stay at home mom who homeschools my 8yo daughter while attending seminary
what I want to do is to be a hospital chaplain (part-time if possible, so that I can still be able to homeschool Damaris)
I have one more year of seminary left (should finish here in summer, 2009) and God willing, I’ll be accepted into a yearlong residency program for CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) starting in August, 2009.
Crystal, I’ve been where you are at. About 7 months ago, I just broke down completely while talking to my hubby and our pastor not sure at all of what I was supposed to do. It was upon becoming broken that God started opening the windows so I could see what was ahead and I’m getting closer to heading through that door to what He has in store for me. You are in my prayers as God opens those windows and finally that door for you!
Wow. Great question. I am a worship leader, but I really want to raise up other worship leaders and encourage them. My heart wants to impact beyond the church staff box. Does that make sense?
I definitely not doing what i want to do. I want to be a pastor. God told me to work at this one place doing Mac-based solutions.
Guess what I am doing?
If you guess right then you automatically know that I am incredibly blessed.
For me, I find that my interaction over the stuff of life, at work or at small group or at church, or at the deli or coffeeshop or ice skating rink with kids – those things are more inspirational and filling for me than church-stuff, whatever that might be. So in some regard, the “ministry” I want to do, I’m doing – now, is the churchiness of anything holding me back from that? I’m not sure…
I am doing what I want to do :)
And sister? Last time I checked, there were a TON of Christians who’d prefer just to stay put in America. So, I say run on to Africa! Or whatever country you want to.
Pursue it! Ultimately leave the choice to God because He gives His best to those who leave the choice to Him.
Each step I am taking through life is a journey and one that is helping me with the next one. I started out in a bank, working as a teller to get through school. I moved on from there to start my own company and sell it, and have ended up working for a non-profit. The one thing I can say with certainty is that my goal in life is to do what God wants me to do… as long as I am doing that, then I am doing the right thing. Do I question this from time to time, absolutely. Do I try to direct my life from time to time, absolutely. Is God in control, absolutely (thank goodness).
With that in mind, life is answered through our prayers and questions. Just stop and pay attention to what you are hearing, not what you think you should be hearing.
I’ve had this tab open for a week or more, waiting to take the time to answer this.
What I am doing is working in church communications in a megachurch, which everyone expected me to do, what with a background in marketing, and a degree in ministry management with a minor in marketing.
But what I want to be doing is living life fully open for opportunities to reach way beyond the church walls (while still maintaining some ties). This includes: pouring more fully into my house church, instead of dividing my focus between two churches; going to a state university for graduate school, studying higher education, so that I can learn about and have an impact in college students’ lives; and finally, preparing on a more focused basis to be the kind of woman that I want to be as a Jesus-follower and future wife and mother.
P.S. If you go to my blog, check out the “About” page first. It explains a bit why the blog is so vague. :-P