day 500: I Never Imgained...

I started Purposed worKING on October 1, 2008, which will be two years this coming Friday, which will be the 502nd post. I thought the 500th post was going to fall on the two-year anniversary. It didn't but it sure was close. As I mark 500 posts today I marvel at how this idea of doing a daily blog was laid on my heart back in the summer of 2008 when I was wondering what I was going to do with the extra time I had been given after SNOCAP was sold. While trying to determine if I should go back to work full-time, I decided that I needed to do something worthwhile with my extra time and also with the knowledge I had been gaining from reading wholly through the Bible for the third time and collecting verses on the topic of work. I had no idea back when I first started this and into the summer of 2008 that what I began on October 1, 2008 would turn into two years and over 500 posts on the subject of how to find the true purpose of our daily work. But, here we are and 500 posts have happened and two years will have passed. I smile because when I mark this much time it reminds me that I would have completed two years of college in the same time frame I have been daily writing this blog. That seems wild to me. Many times in life and in our work we never know where something might lead when we start it anew. A new job, a new assignment, a new hobby, a new relationship; they will all lead to new opportunities and doors being opened and our lives changing. Purposed worKING is a joy for me to write. I will be honest too and tell you that sometimes it is also work to ensure that I meet my deadlines. It has spurred many new conversations and new opportunities for me to share my faith and meet new people. It is also a great discipline for me personally to stay in God's Word and to draw upon the lessons for myself too. One never knows where God will lead us, but if we use the talents and gifts He has given us then we can say like Mordecai said to Queen Esther; "What's more, who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this?" We never know where our talents will send us, but God does and those talents will get used for His glory if we listen and allow Him to work in our lives.

Thank you for letting me be a small part of your work day for these past two years and 500 posts. If Purposed worKING supports or touches you in any way, please pass it along to others. I may never know where it goes, but you may be able to make a difference in someone's life just by exposing them to something that means something to you.

Have a blessed and purposeful day of worKING!

Reference: Esther 4:14 (New Living Testament)

day 103: Why Me...Why Now?

I often get asked to help people understand why they are in the job they are in and more urgently, asked to help them get out of their current job. It is usually a hard conversation to have but I have to remind others that timing is everything and timing is not in their hands. When we try and force our own timing we can end up in a situation where we end up making suboptimal decisions which can be hard to reconcile in the future. One bad job change ends up with two problems; getting yourself out of the bad job and then finding another one without making another mistake. Whenever I am in these conversations I remind myself and others that God has a reason that we are all where we are at any given point in time. I am comforted by one of my favorite verses for navigating the uncertainty of our work and our work positions. That verse is found in Esther 4:14: "What's more, who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this?" Queen Esther was being tested and asked to do something that she did not want to do, but her aide Mordecai gave her this challenge and it is a good one for each of us to receive when we wonder why we are doing what we are doing. I like to take the verse and insert my own name: "What's more, (insert your name here), who can say but that (I) you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this?" Asking ourselves this question and remembering that God is all-knowing and has a plan for each of us, should take out the question of timing. Today may be the day that you have been put exactly where you are supposed to be for a task and a moment that you have no understanding about...yet. Hang on to and use this promise and challenge the next time you are in a time of wondering. You just may find that you are to persevere and push through just a little longer or be a little more patient so that things can work out the way they are supposed to, on God's timeline, not yours.

Reference: Esther 4:14 (New Living Testament)