Psalm 138:8
As I finished up packing parts of my office up for the travelling that will ensue these next two weeks, I couldn’t help but think of how thankful I am for my job this holiday season. As I’ve told you earlier of how the Lord truly led me to this job, at this time, and in this place, I’m really thankful that He gave me a job that not only provides, but that I also enjoy. Knowing full well the state of the economy at graduation and the fact that I had virtually nothing to offer an employer besides a young mind and a bachelor’s degree, I consider it nothing short of a miracle that I found employment right where I want to be doing exactly what I had no idea I wanted to do.
On top of the fact that I’m surrounded by intelligent, sweet, and hard-working people in my office, I get the opportunity to travel several times a year with the rest of the camp department. This coming week’s trip will be to Asheville, NC, for a trade show for Christian camps. I’ll get to represent the company and meet my customer’s for the once-a-year face time I’ll get with them. I’m looking forward to seeing a new part of the country and getting to experience and learn about what my customers do for a living!
The following week, I’ll be packing my bags for Pennsylvania, as a co-worker and I will be travelling through the backwoods up north. I’ll be her “assistant” for lack of a better word as she meets with her customers, while I help make things easier for her and take note of how she does her job. I’m so looking forward to seeing snow during the holidays and being up north! Never did I think while looking for a job that I would be blessed with these opportunities of travel!
One of the other perks that I didn’t share earlier is the opportunity I will have in the future to work from home. I think when my boss said those words in my interview after I was already sold on everything else about the job, my heart soared. Knowing that I can pick up and take my job wherever the Lord leads me in the near future was such an encouragement and an affirmation that this job is right where the Lord has me. One of my hugest frustrations in looking for a job in College Station was that I didn’t’ know if I was supposed to be here, or for how long. I worried that I’d find a job and sign a lease, only to find out that I hate it, or I don’t feel called to College Station, or something would happen where I’d feel stuck or trapped. It was like icing on the cake to hear that my job is portable. I think it’s nice that that pressure was taken off of my decision, and Clayton can 100% focus on his career plans and feel confident and assured in wherever the Lord leads him. I love that the Lord took care of my “Martha heart” by giving me a job that allows me to take my mind off the future and truly enjoy the present!
I love what I do. I couldn’t be happier with a just-out-of-college career. And I think that’s something else I love about it- it’s truly a career. The one thing I didn’t want was a job. Jobs come and go, there’s no real goals to meet or expectations to exceed. There’s nothing to shoot for in a job, because normally it’s a gateway to your next step in life, and it has a real beginning and end in mind. It stifles creativity and drive and can suck the life out of you. I’m thankful for a career I can push myself in, grow into, and really blossom and succeed in. I’m thankful for co-workers and employers who are quickly becoming friends.
I’m thankful for the opportunity and blessing to begin to provide for myself, to take on new responsibilities, and to mature as I enter adulthood. I’m thankful for the lessons I’m learning about budgeting and bills and how to save for my future and the things I want most in life. I’m thankful that I can begin now to pay off student debt while my cost of living is so cheap. I’m thankful for new opportunities to bless people financially and serve in a new way. I’m thankful for the mission field of an office, and the fact that I get to work with both brothers and sisters in Christ as well as those other precious people I have a chance to reach out to and show love.
It’s not always easy to be so thankful for a place I spend 8 hours a day at, sitting in front of a computer writing emails and answering phone calls. It’s not always easy to be at work every morning at 8am, when everything in my 21 year old body screams that it is not yet ready for adult hours. I’m reminded every day by my college roommates that I don’t get to wake up and decide to skip like they can, or go out on midnight rendezvous, or participate in on-campus organizations that have defined my life these past few years. Every now and then, that gets hard, but for the most part, I’m truly grateful that I get to transition into this next phase of life slowly, still surrounded by friends. I only have to be an adult during the day. When I go home, I get to play again, and it’s nice to not have the looming deadlines of test dates and studying looming over my head. Overall, I think adult life will be pretty fun, but I must admit I’m ready for the rest of my college friends to join me here!
No comments:
Post a Comment