What was found in the wood…
Vocational Statement:
God put me on this earth to…
Bridge the gap between the people of the church and the marginalized by …
Advocating through allyship and compassion to usher in a renewal of justice-centered teaching…
So, that we can bring the true fullness of Jesus to the world.
This is a statement that was crafted as part of my 12 weeks working with a Vocational Coach (The Leadership Center - Trisha Welstad, she’s awesome!). The first draft was written during the first few weeks and fine-tuned over our remaining weeks.
It feels big. Who am I kidding? It feels HUGE!!! It feels God-sized. It feels true.
Trisha reassured that it should feel that way. Trisha reassured A LOT!
Each line encompasses parts of my life, my stories and experiences, my beliefs.
Stories and experiences and beliefs that had painted on layers of self-doubt, self-consciousness, and insecurity. So many layers that I had a hard time making out my own form. Like woodwork in a house that’s been painted over so many times that you can’t see the detail anymore.
I knew I was called into ministry, but not sure why. When you decide (more like, God decides and you obey) to enter the ordination track, the most frequently asked question is: So, you want your own church? You want to be a lead pastor?
To which, I’ve always known the answer: no. (at least not anytime soon)
Next question: So what DO you want to do?
Answer: ehhhhh???? *shrug* one step at a time, right?!?
I had some vague ideas; and some God-nudges that I wasn’t sure how to make sense of. With ordination right around the corner, I knew I needed to start figuring out an answer to that question. What I didn’t realize was that Vocational Coaching would be my paint stripper.
As we started scraping away the layers of paint, we found some grooves I had forgotten were there. At first, they seemed random and disconnected. But then, the swirls and loops that started to be exposed all seemed part of one continuous groove. As I followed the groove, the direction became clearer. As we finally got back down to the wood, a beautiful inlay was revealed. The inlay of God’s image and purpose for me.
Sure...I still have some stubborn chunks of paint, some places where it’s stained.
But, these words, my vocational statement was what was found in the wood.
So, in each of the next 3 blogs you will read about parts of those stories, some of the loops and swirls that shape the parts of this statement.