Progress Check

At the beginning of January I committed to waking up at 5am and writing for 30 days. So how's it going you ask? Well...2017 hasn't exactly started the way I thought it would. I rang in the new year laid up on my couch with the flu. That lasted about a week, recovered and came down with the flu, but a little bit more severely about a week ago. So, according to my amazingly speedy math, I've spent about 2/3 of 2017 sick. Besides that, my kiddos and wife all got sick or are currently sick, too! Not pleasant or ideal. But it is my reality that has forced me to rethink when I write and how much I write. I've been able to maintain the twice a week blog posts which is kind of like meeting part of my goal! 

There's a lesson in every situation. In this instance it's important for me to give myself grace during a stressful beginning to 2017. I haven't failed my goal of writing but have succeeded in posting twice a week! I am thankfully on the upswing from my latest flu bug and I hope it has left me for a long time! It's weeks like these that help me press into both Ecclesiastes 3 and  Romans 8:28... Happy Thursday!

Bethel's Work With Purpose Webinar

Finding it hard to balance work and life? Wishing you could get more out of life rather than plopping down on your couch after a long day feeling exhausted? An integrated life is gaining momentum and it has been a growing passion of mine to help others be who God created them to be...fully! 

I have the privilege of joining Bethel University's Work With Purpose initiative in a webinar focused on Calling in the Workplace coming up on January 24th, 2017. You can find more info and register to join this 1 hour session here! I'll be sharing more of my journey and how integrating Faith, Life, and Work drives my daily mission to advance the Kingdom of Christ. 

Life

The Game of Life was an elusive board of magical plastic pieces that held wonder in my imagination growing up. I never had the chance to play it very often when I was younger, but it held the same spot of captivation as Mouse Trap did. All those fancy colorful parts...oh to own one of my very own would have been glorious. Alas, I grew up without owning either one and I turned out just fine ;-) In reality, I get to play the game of life everyday and find most days I'm #winning. Cheesy? Maybe. But life is to fun to take too seriously and it's too serious to joke around with. 

Most of us, in America, get the chance to choose what our life looks like. The freedom's we enjoy are outrageous and unheard of in many other modern cultures. We get to choose where we work, who we spend time with, what church to attend, what we do with our free time, where we go on vacation, and on and on. So are you happy with your choices? What is 1 thing you can change in 2017 to get your way? 1 Goal. 1 Dream turned into reality. Write it down and work on it. My goal is to write for 30 days. Trivial? Probably. But I love to write so doing it for 30 (more) days gives the me the motivation to keep doing it. For me if I don't write down a goal and share it with someone it most likely remains a dream. So write down your 1 goal and share it with someone. Write it here if you want! 

Calling & Vocation?

So what's the deal with the word 'vocation'? Is it a dreamy locale with endless sunshine, white sand beaches, and lounging with umbrella drinks? Not quite. But it does refer to where you are in life and what you are doing on a daily basis. Ideally your vocation, or calling, would include things that allow time to slip by unnoticed and feelings of satisfaction, joy, and contentment. However, in today's culture, we are engrained to think of work not as a calling but rather a means to and end - retirement. So, the average American spends their lifetime - 100,000 hours - toiling at a job waiting until the day of retirement. One of the myriad problems with that thinking is once one reaches retirement it can be confounding how to fill the void of work. We were meant for more! 

Let's begin with how work began. God worked when he created the heavens and the earth and he called his work "good" (Genesis 1). After his work during six days he then rested on the seventh (sabbath). We were created in God's image and as image bearer's we were made to work, enjoy it, and rest. How life could dramatically change for many of us if we simply shifted our mindset ever-so-slightly to view work as an enjoyable experience of worship towards God. I'll explore this concept further in future posts, but for now... How do you find joy in your work? Do you feel called to your current employment? Maybe you volunteer and that's where you feel called?