Full Circle
I just got back from interviewing with a staffing company for a contract tech writing position with one of their larger clients. The interview went very well, and even if this particular contract doesn't pan out, I've made some good contacts for future endeavors.
As we were talking and they asked about the kind of work I was looking for (i.e., temp-to-perm vs. contract), it occurred to me how in many ways my life has come full-circle. When I first left college, I did temping for a few years to see what was out there and what I liked. The pay wasn't great, but I enjoyed being able to change jobs every few months, not feeling tied-down to any one company. I eventually gave it up in order to try to get better $$$ and benefits. Now, I'm essentially going back to it, but this time with a marketable skill (writing) and the resume to prove that I have said skill, which will actually let me make a decent living at it.
It's funny how one can look back at one's life at certain stages and see everything lining up to get you to certain points. For example, while I've felt called to the ministry for years, for some reason I kept going broke every time I was about to go to seminary. If I had gone the normal route, I doubt that I would ever have become Messianic. But here I am, doing my "apprenticeship" at a synagogue that has far more influence that one would expect of our less-than-hundred person membership. We get calls, letters, and emails from all across the country asking questions. We're doing a Passover Seder next week for a church of 250, and last week did one on a television show with an audience of upwards a million. I've got a debate in Memphis in a month, having just done a debate here closer to home.
Now, if I'd gone the normal route and become a nice, normal Evangelical preacher, would I ever be in the middle of something as fun and important as this? Doubtful. I'd probably have a nice little congregation somewhere of a few hundred souls who meet on Sunday and maybe Wednesday, but didn't do much else, like 95+% of the churches out there. But because the wide path was blocked, I ended up taking the road less traveled, and I wouldn't change it for the world.
I call that evidence of the Divine Hand. My friends might call it something else, but I think most would recognize that the building blocks of a person's life tend to be built in a pattern that, when we have a moment to pause and look back at it, is breathtaking in its complex yet elegant beauty.
As we were talking and they asked about the kind of work I was looking for (i.e., temp-to-perm vs. contract), it occurred to me how in many ways my life has come full-circle. When I first left college, I did temping for a few years to see what was out there and what I liked. The pay wasn't great, but I enjoyed being able to change jobs every few months, not feeling tied-down to any one company. I eventually gave it up in order to try to get better $$$ and benefits. Now, I'm essentially going back to it, but this time with a marketable skill (writing) and the resume to prove that I have said skill, which will actually let me make a decent living at it.
It's funny how one can look back at one's life at certain stages and see everything lining up to get you to certain points. For example, while I've felt called to the ministry for years, for some reason I kept going broke every time I was about to go to seminary. If I had gone the normal route, I doubt that I would ever have become Messianic. But here I am, doing my "apprenticeship" at a synagogue that has far more influence that one would expect of our less-than-hundred person membership. We get calls, letters, and emails from all across the country asking questions. We're doing a Passover Seder next week for a church of 250, and last week did one on a television show with an audience of upwards a million. I've got a debate in Memphis in a month, having just done a debate here closer to home.
Now, if I'd gone the normal route and become a nice, normal Evangelical preacher, would I ever be in the middle of something as fun and important as this? Doubtful. I'd probably have a nice little congregation somewhere of a few hundred souls who meet on Sunday and maybe Wednesday, but didn't do much else, like 95+% of the churches out there. But because the wide path was blocked, I ended up taking the road less traveled, and I wouldn't change it for the world.
I call that evidence of the Divine Hand. My friends might call it something else, but I think most would recognize that the building blocks of a person's life tend to be built in a pattern that, when we have a moment to pause and look back at it, is breathtaking in its complex yet elegant beauty.