"Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."
The concept of surrendering my career never made much sense to me because I've always known what I wanted to do, and was perfectly en route to achieving it. I thought I was better than everyone else for knowing what I wanted to do. In all frankness, I just thought I was awesome and gave myself credit for every accomplishment in my life.
When God directly confronted me last year with how much I had been living for myself, I made all excuses to rationalize and justify myself. Somehow God changed my heart to be willing to let go of my perfect plan and insured that I would never find the type of security and identity that I found through a job title or company reputation. He took me through a whole year of rejections and dejected moments so that I would learn what it means to be satisfied with merely having a relationship with the God of the universe, not just praising Him or wanting Him when he would give me something in my life (no matter how spiritual or "good" these things were).
When things just didn't go my way this past year, I raised the white flag and asked that He would become the true LORD over my life (including my post-grad plans). I made the decision to stay in Ann Arbor after I graduated, thinking that I had to put my career on-hold if I wanted to obey God. Little did I know that what God was calling me to do was tightly interlinked with my career goals and ambitions.
If you asked me a year ago what my dream job would be, I would naively (but confidently) tell you that I wanted to be a brand manager at a big company in downtown Chicago. It was a petty dream that I built myself and set my heart on. When I finally let go of my career to God, He gave me a long-term vision that I would have NEVER found on my own--the desire to be working in education management, marketing educational opportunities as ways for students to grow personally and discover their passions. He revealed to me my heart for college students and desire to be involved in their lives as an influential figure.
What's so awesome about this new ambitious dream I have of someday running the business school is that it's so interlinked with my testimony of how I came to believe in Jesus as my Lord & Savior. College is the time that I came to discover my identity, interests, and passions--and that only came as I acknowledged my creator for the very first time and got to know Him & His plans for me. I finally sought advice from the author of my life story, rather than trying to write the best, picture perfect story of my life (on my own).
I can't believe I graduated college with a BBA, but without a job--and was perfectly OKAY with it. From the moment I stepped onto this campus, I was told that I am one of the leaders and the best, and even the best of the best as a student in the business school. Because of this, I felt entitled to a prestigious job offer and found it even more mind-boggling that God wouldn't BLESS ME with SOMETHING (ANYTHING) after I had made the difficult decision to surrender my post-grad plans. I am superbly thankful for the entire year of testing (and constantly questioning the worth of following Jesus) because if it weren't for this humbling experience, I would take all the credit for any job opportunity that opened up, thinking it was my awesome resume or interviewing skills that made me deserving of the position.
Well here's the big news: I HAVE A JOB.
A job that fits with my career goals (marketing in the short-term, education management in the long-term) AND desire to be involved with the community that let me experience FREEDOM, JOY, and ETERNAL SATISFACTION (working in Ann Arbor/Detroit).
I DIDN'T DESERVE IT, BUT I JUST HAVE IT. This is God's Grace (GG)!!!
The concept of surrendering my career never made much sense to me because I've always known what I wanted to do, and was perfectly en route to achieving it. I thought I was better than everyone else for knowing what I wanted to do. In all frankness, I just thought I was awesome and gave myself credit for every accomplishment in my life.
When God directly confronted me last year with how much I had been living for myself, I made all excuses to rationalize and justify myself. Somehow God changed my heart to be willing to let go of my perfect plan and insured that I would never find the type of security and identity that I found through a job title or company reputation. He took me through a whole year of rejections and dejected moments so that I would learn what it means to be satisfied with merely having a relationship with the God of the universe, not just praising Him or wanting Him when he would give me something in my life (no matter how spiritual or "good" these things were).
When things just didn't go my way this past year, I raised the white flag and asked that He would become the true LORD over my life (including my post-grad plans). I made the decision to stay in Ann Arbor after I graduated, thinking that I had to put my career on-hold if I wanted to obey God. Little did I know that what God was calling me to do was tightly interlinked with my career goals and ambitions.
If you asked me a year ago what my dream job would be, I would naively (but confidently) tell you that I wanted to be a brand manager at a big company in downtown Chicago. It was a petty dream that I built myself and set my heart on. When I finally let go of my career to God, He gave me a long-term vision that I would have NEVER found on my own--the desire to be working in education management, marketing educational opportunities as ways for students to grow personally and discover their passions. He revealed to me my heart for college students and desire to be involved in their lives as an influential figure.
What's so awesome about this new ambitious dream I have of someday running the business school is that it's so interlinked with my testimony of how I came to believe in Jesus as my Lord & Savior. College is the time that I came to discover my identity, interests, and passions--and that only came as I acknowledged my creator for the very first time and got to know Him & His plans for me. I finally sought advice from the author of my life story, rather than trying to write the best, picture perfect story of my life (on my own).
I can't believe I graduated college with a BBA, but without a job--and was perfectly OKAY with it. From the moment I stepped onto this campus, I was told that I am one of the leaders and the best, and even the best of the best as a student in the business school. Because of this, I felt entitled to a prestigious job offer and found it even more mind-boggling that God wouldn't BLESS ME with SOMETHING (ANYTHING) after I had made the difficult decision to surrender my post-grad plans. I am superbly thankful for the entire year of testing (and constantly questioning the worth of following Jesus) because if it weren't for this humbling experience, I would take all the credit for any job opportunity that opened up, thinking it was my awesome resume or interviewing skills that made me deserving of the position.
Well here's the big news: I HAVE A JOB.
A job that fits with my career goals (marketing in the short-term, education management in the long-term) AND desire to be involved with the community that let me experience FREEDOM, JOY, and ETERNAL SATISFACTION (working in Ann Arbor/Detroit).
I DIDN'T DESERVE IT, BUT I JUST HAVE IT. This is God's Grace (GG)!!!
Comments
i'm assuming this is the HUGE news?!??!
sorry my phone's dead... haha forgot my charger in a hurry to leave in time for brother's prom party!
but YAYYYY! now you can help find ME a job! hahah j/k but really CONGRATULATIONS. let's celebrate when i get back!!