Schlub

I was born to….  Can you finish that sentence?  I know a lot of people who can complete it without hesitation.  Of the people that I know who can quickly respond what they were “born” to do, most of them are in service rolls.  They are teachers, pastors or work in medicine.  That is only a fraction of the population.  What about the rest of us?  Are there people who would answer the question, “I was born to work in solid waste management!”

 

I took a vocational aptitude test in 10th grade.  I think the categories were from -5 (don’t do this) to 5 (you would be perfect for…).  Most of my scores were between 0 and 1.  My teacher commented that a seemed to be adrift.

 

In college, I wanted to be a biologist.  So naturally I went to a Bible college and pursued a psych degree!!?  After graduating, I had amassed a sizable dept, so continuing my education was not an option.  So I took a summer job in the Financial Aid Office.  I have been working in that industry for almost 18 years now.  But do I feel like I was born to facilitate bureaucratic transactions?  Gosh I hope not.

 

Does everyone have a purpose?  Steve Martin thought so…but I won’t go there.

Comments

One response to “Schlub”

  1. dan scott Avatar

    This is an interesting idea… I’m not sure I was born to creative direct a children’s ministry in a mega church, and I would have rather been born to be a movie star… but here I am for better or worse and thankfully for the most part better.

    on the other hand i have friends who were born to lead worship or men’s ministries yet that calling isn’t occupational – the former is a web programmer/designer for a Fortune 500, the other is a house inspector. both are being used in their own way with their own skill sets either their work or hobby…

    i read Os Guinness’s The Call a while back… it wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read (i actually didn’t finish it) but i did take away something important: calling (purpose) doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with occupation. it could be that we are called to be hospitable or creators of community or participants in continual acts of service. it opened up a world of possibilities especially when I thought i’d end up as a graphic designer with a very expensive seminary degree. hah!

    now steve martin – he WAS born standing up… one of my recent favorites btw… stormie o’martin?! what a riot!

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