The Beauty of God's Calmness

Have you ever had moments where you just wanted to FREAK OUT? I have been having more of those moments than I would prefer.  However, I'm also enjoying the fact that is only a "want" and not a reality.  As crazy as these past 4-5 weeks especially have been... God has kept me from having complete and utter meltdowns.  It's like where I would just jump off the cliff and be freaking out left and right... right when I'm at the edge God has given me peace that surpasses all understanding.  I'll just calm down.. that is a blessing!

The other super cool thing that's been going on with me.  I'm really on a journey to handle my finances with Godly wisdom.  It would be in this time, that everything that could go wrong (license suspended, sentenced to court for wage garnishments, and just wayy more debt than money) is going wrong.  Honestly, there was a time where this would've had me locked in a dark room crying my eyes out... I have peace that I will weather this storm and come out on the other end victorious.

I honestly don't even understand why I'm so calm for the most part in what is the most hectic financial time I've ever had on top of the other daily stresses.  All I can say... "God's been just that good!"


Signing out.. hope to write more frequently.. until next time.. ♪♫ Be Blessed.. don't live life in distress.. ♪♫

Wow.. it's been a minute!

So I'm up when I clearly should be sleep.  I decided to check in.  I was reading through my last few blogs from wayyy earlier last year. I wish I could say I have made it to the other side of that tumultuous journey, but I think if I'm honest I'd say I'm somewhere in the middle.  I've plenty of ups and some scary downs since I last checked in but things are changing for better in all aspects.

I'm staying hopeful.. you should too! God is still on the throne!


More to come...

Lost Book.................

**Random Blog Alert**

For anyone who might be following me on this blog.  As you can tell, I've been completely off on writing my daily blogs.  However... I realized that I don't know where my book is. I believe I left it at work.

Don't give up hope! I will get back on top of my journey! Pray my strength!

Day 8 coming in the very near future!

Day 7: Life Plans & Mentorship

Hey ladies and gents... the Lord is great and is to be exalted above all the earth!  Well Day 7 doesn't have any real assignment I can write about or any chapters to read. I'm still contemplating on my Life Plan.  I'd be cool if I can put together a life statement to start with so we'll see as I continue on this journey.  Today I need to name 3 or 4 people who have been a positive mentor to me and ask if I could contact them and ask for their advice.  Here are 3 people who come to my mind on first thought as mentors.

Positive Mentors

1. Mrs. Hymes -- 7th grade English teacher
• Not sure how I could contact her but she's one of the BEST teachers I had growing up.  She always challenged me to do better than my best.  
• I haven't spoken to her since right before I graduated from high school.
2. Allene Manning -- Older sister I never had
• One of my buddies that has lived a few more years than me on this earth and has great wisdom to show for it.  Her faith and maturity in the Lord unshakable and I think her career actually is something she really enjoys.  I trust her advice. She's only a call away...
3. Dr. Roy Dejoie -- M.I.S. professor for several classes at Purdue
• He is very knowledgeable about various aspects of technology and someone I trust to advise me about potential career paths in IT.  He was probably my favorite professor at Purdue and one I make sure to keep in touch with periodically.  He loves what he does.  He's only an email away..

Mom.. if you're reading this.. don't be dismayed.  You are SO much more than a mentor.  You're my mom.. you're in a class of your own. Love you! ☺

I did realize that I answered the wrong set of "Countdown To The Work I Love" questions yesterday.  I answered Day 9's set.. lol.. So on Day 9.. I will answer Day 6 questions.  They kind of go hand and hand.

This was actually a short one (the crowd goes wild with applause)!  Until tomorrow...

Day 6: What is my LIFE plan???

Sooo today its Day 6 and I don't have a definitive answer to that question.  I know I like to put a smile on people's face.  It gives me great joy to see other people happy and that I played a part in it.  Not sure how I can apply that to a career but I'm sure there are many things I could do that would do that.  I often find it makes me happy when people like the things I create (web design, flyers, etc.).

Today will be a pretty short blog.. I'm kind of frustrated with thinking about my life right now..  I'm in a place of extreme uncertainty and at times it makes me mad.  Today would be one of those days.  Today's assignment was to talk with 2 people about my understanding of vocation, career, job.  Read yesterday's blog and let me know if I did a good job of that.  I'm also going to answer the questions at the end of Chapter 3: Creating A Life Plan.  Here goes...

COUNTDOWN TO THE WORK I LOVE

1. Are you a goal setter? Do you typically set goals at the frist of the year? If not, why not?
• I'm not a true goal setter.  I tend to set general goals instead of specific ones.  I usually get caught up in the mundane tasks of life or things I do to avoid real life and never get to most of them unless I have something keeping me on task.  
• Usually if I set specific goals and DEADLINES I'm pretty good about sticking to it.  I sometimes find it hard for me to focus.. so that's probably why I don't set as many goals.  Its easier to not feel like a failure.. I think is my logic (hmmm.. although that's not really working out for me.. :-/)
2. How would you describe your current focus on work?  
• Job work: Non-existent
• School work:  I can focus when I can get away from distractions and get out of my head.  I usually set aside time where I'm truly dedicated to completing the assigned tasks
3. What hobbies do you have? What other skills and interests do you have?
• My hobbies.. would reading fiction books and watching movies count?
• I actually like to watch commentaries of movies I like. 
• I love super cool tech gadgets.  It's something about figuring out something new works.
• I like programming and it comes fairly natural to me.
• I am starting to really LOVE singing.. preferably praise and worship songs unto the Lord.
• I think I really like blogging.. lol.
• I am very good at putting a smile on people's face. (I think anyways)
4. How are you involved in your community?
• I am pretty active in my local church, Hope International Ministries.  
5. What was your father's or mother's attitude toward work and how has that affected you?
• I think both of their attitudes are.. "do what you have to, to survive".
• I think this is my Dad's life motto and it seems he's accepted a mediocre life. :-(
• My mother's attitude is more switching to.. "do what makes you happy".
• My mom had some negative attributes to how she handled not being happy in a current job that I think I'm picking up.  That makes me sad.
• Both of those attitudes makes me want to cling to what seems to be steady and stable income whether it brings me joy or not.  However.. I'm ready to enjoy my career now and not it just be something I do to past the time to get a certain amount of income.

I'm ready to discover what my vocation is and fit my career around that.  Lord.... your guidance is certainly needed.  If you're reading this.. touch and agree with me that GOD will open my eyes to what HE has in store for me and where & how I need to move to get it.  

Until tomorrow....

Day 5: Creating A Life Plan

Work is love made visible

And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste,

it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple 

and take alms of those who work with joy.

For if you bake bread with indifference, you make bitter bread

that feeds but half man's hunger.

And if you grudge the crushing of grapes,

your grudge distills a poison in the wine.

And if you sing though as angels, and love not singing,

you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.

All work is empty save when there is love;

and when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself,

and to one another, and to God.

                                          - Kahlil Gibran

It's been a few days but I'm back on the grind... creating a LIFE PLAN!  This book is just so on where I'm trying to go.  Although, I'm starting to think really for something like this should be given more than a day to work on certain topics.  I mean.. really.. am I suppose to create an entire LIFE plan in like a day or two?! This is like major boot camp.. lol.

The whole point of this chapter is to talk about how your work is only supposed to be one area of your life that you should have small deposits of success but not your entire life.  Your should plan your work around the type of life you want and not the other way around.  Few nuggets of knowledge from 48 Days To The Work You Love about three words that are often used interchangeably but shouldn't be......

• Vocation -- This word incorporates your calling, purpose, mission, and destiny.  
• "It's what you're doing in life that makes a difference and build meaning for you..."  
• "It suggests your LISTENING for something that's calling out to you-- something that is particular to you"

"Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen for that voice telling me who I am"  -Dan Miller  

• Career -- This word means to run or move at full speed, rush wildy.
• The books basically talks about how careers are simply a line of work and that various types of careers can support your calling. (Good to know right?!)

And last but not least (well maybe?).......

• Job -- Ones daily activities that produce income.

So I realized what I'm really need to figure out is what is my vocation.  What really calls out to me? It sounds like the other two will fall into place.  To paraphrase a quote the book:

"There is a Hebrew word, advoah, for which comes the words "work" and "worship". To the Hebrew man, his work is just as much an expression of worship as being in the synagogue."

I mean.. I'm trying to get there.  The bible does talk about doing everything unto the Lord and I can say with certainty I'm def not doing that at present.

I also need to work on not identifying my entire life with my career. I am bigger than my career!  I'm working to invest my time in things that incorporate my skills and abilities, personal tendencies, and values, dreams and passions.  I realize that until recently.. I really hadn't been pursuing those 3 key areas in almost anything I did.  

GOD is sure doing a work in me.. I just know it!  My prayer is to continue to be transformed.  So as I continue my search for a career that better suits me, I'm going to also work on balancing that with other areas of life that I've been neglecting (health being a serious one).

Day 4: A little more CHANGE

Hi all,

It's been quite the tiring day.  I came home from work and completely crashed.  I think right now because I need to make some major steps towards change it can all be overwhelming.  Big thoughts in my head right now.. do I take the obvious open opportunity in front of me because I'm really wanting a change of pace or continue to seek for the dream?  I mean.. really.. what is the dream in its entirety and how do I know what lies in front of me won't lead me there?  The answer to this is.. I don't know.  I have an awareness of what I would find pretty interesting to do as a job.. but not quite sure how I will be getting there.  People always says the Lord works in mysterious ways.... I guess I just need to pray and trust.

Enough of my ramblings...

Today, I will be answering the questions at the end of chapter 2.. that's it.  I'm supposed to write out my answers so here I go.

Countdown to Work I LOVE

1. Respond to the statement, "All progress requires change, but not all change is progress."
• Wow sir!  This is speaking right to how I feel right now.  I know I need to make a change but how can I ensure that change is going to progress my situation, keep me complacent (yikes!), or worse have me go backwards in some way. 
• I suppose the key for me will be to look & seek out progressive changes. Alot of this I believe will require some serious prayer and LISTENING on my part.  God is trying to tell me something.. I know it.. I'm just hard of hearing these days.  Lord help!
2. What statement describes your career path so far?
• The path of least resistance and risk. (This is disappointing but true....)
3. How has a company change affected you?  How did it make you feel?
• Well... there hasn't been a company change that has really affected me personally. They've done some reorganization at my job which is a nice way to say they laid some employees off to get rid of redundancy, but it hasn't affected me directly (yet).
• It made me feel like nothing is as secure as it seems though.  There were people who worked at Purdue for years.. real workaholics.. and got thrown out like yesterday's newspaper.  The thing I thought about it is..
• What would happen if you stayed at a job your entire life that you didn't love and just to make a paycheck, worked your tail off for years.. for the "security" and got laid off randomly?
• What would that do to your spirit? 
• How do you reinvent yourself when you haven't really been yourself in a long time? 
• Would you continue a life of status quo and look for the next mediocre job that doesn't fit you still... or do you say "screw it.. I'm going to do what I want to do?".  (For some reason I'd imagine it'd be the former and that ladies & gents is quite depressing.)
4. Have you ever experience any "failure" in your career?  If so, what did it lead to?
• Well... I think I'm failing right now by not doing something that I'm motivated to be my very best in doing.  I'm SO on the status quo end of things.  Quite frankly, I feel like I'm failing myself and the individuals I work with. It's really hard to do 100% when you are unmotivated........
• It lead to me reading this book and writing this blog.  Hopefully I will grow from this and inspire some to do the same along the way.
5. What were your childhood goals and ambitions for life?  Which ones have you been able to fulfill?
• Childhood goals: Become valedictorian of my high school, be the next Doogie Howser.. maybe as a neurosurgeon, become an astronaut or for NASA in some capacity, be prosperous, have a loving marriage and a kid or two, travel the world.  Can't think of anything else that I wanted to do or be as a child.
• Let's see... too old to be a Doogie Howsers... didn't go the NASA route... hmmm still living paycheck to paycheck... single... been to Florida (does that count?!).. I suppose the only one I've accomplished was being valedictorian (yay me.. right?)
6. Who are 2 or 3 people you know who seem to have accomplished their dreams?  What do you remember about their accomplishments?
• This one is a doozy... I'm not sure I literally "know" people who've accomplished their dreams.  I know a lot of peple who "do what they have to do to surive" (boring......).
• Maybe I'll talk to a few people who I think are living their dreams or at least doing something they love and come back to this one on another blog post (hmm.. yea.. I'll do that).
7. What do you imagine your retirement will be like?
• I imagine me being free to do exactly what I want to do.. everyday.  Probably helping more at local church, traveling to see a new location a few times a year (with the future hubby.. yea! LOL), spending time with people I love.. lots of laughter, looking at my grown children who are creating deposits of success in their own lives and thinking to myself "wow.. I was an instrumental part in their development.. thank you LORD"
• In all honesty, if I get this whole "doing work I love" down & having a balanced life.. not much different from that except I might all together ensure I'm in a situation where I don't have to go to work.  Perhaps, if I have my own company.. leaving the day to day affairs to someone else that I've charged to carry the torch and just check in from time to time.

Well that's all she wrote.... hope you're enjoying reading about my journey as much as I'm enjoying writing it.  Talk back to me.. you think I'm staying on the surface.. you think I need to dig deeper?

Till tomorrow.. well sometime later today as by the time this posts.. it will officially be Day 5.. lol.. (it's the night owl in me.. what can I say?!).  I'll leave you with this.. EXPECT THE GREAT.. I know I am...