Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Making a living...or a dying?

"We will spend well in excess of 100,000 hours of our lives working at our choice of vocation. The sheer math of a per-hour rate makes this decision very important. You must plan your work and then work your plan. Happy and effective people have found a vocation for which they have a natural aptitude and have committed themselves to excellence in that vocation. These are the people who have a vacation for a vocation.  Everyone has some natural talent or aptitude in one or more areas.  If you can identify those areas you not only will be happier and perform more successfully in that role, but you will also become better paid for that...When you have a natural talent or aptitude, coupled with desire and experience, the result is productivity plus." -Dave Ramsey. 

"The secret of success is focus of purpose." -Thomas Edison

So true. How many people do you know, or maybe even yourself, that wake up every work-week morning, absolutely dreading the job that they are headed to? Is this truly making a living, or as a one of my favorite personal finance books, Your Money or Your Life, states, "Where’s all the life we supposedly made at work? For many of us, isn’t the truth closer to ‘making a dying’? Aren’t we killing ourselves — our health, our relationships, our sense of joy and wonder — for our jobs? We are sacrificing our lives for money — but it’s happening so slowly we barely notice."

Ok, so what do I do now?  I can relate to many of you who aren't truly satisfied with your field of work.  You know, without a shadow of a doubt, that your current job is not one that you want to do until retirement, or one that you even look forward to going to.  My personal suggestions would be to: 1) PRAY: Seek God's will for your life. 2) Be proactive; do everything you can to go from where you are, to where you truly want to be. 3) Seek counsel from your pastor, family members and friends, especially those who are currently involved in the industry/field you seek to enter. 4) Don't choose an occupation simply for the money. 5) DON'T quit your current job without figuring out where you will be earning an income!  You know what your passion is and you know that you want to do it for the rest of your life...but the fact is, you've got to figure out how you are going to earn income doing that.  Don't make a rash decision, digging yourself into a deeper hole!  As Dave Ramsey states, "Do not quit your job today!  Do not get all excited and destroy your monthly budget by making a rash decision.  You can begin the process of discovery and transformation today."  

The bottom line-no pun intended, is that forty years from now, I do not want to look back on my life in disappointment, thinking, "I've spent this much of my life, doing THAT?  What was I thinking?".  Seek true fulfillment! 

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Welcome to my new blog!

A Steadfast Light is a "spinoff" of the blog that I created for my six month mission trip/internship with Nehemiah Vision Ministries in Haiti; Jordan's Haiti Ministry.  Since I started the blog a couple months prior to me flying down to Haiti on January 16, 2012, it has accumulated almost 6,000 hits, with visitors from the United States (4,855), Haiti (268), Russia (120), German (84), China (82), Israel (62), Ukraine (32), Latvia (30), Canada (28), and last but not least, the United Kingdom (26).  I have no clue how people from those countries ventured unto my blog, but I thank God that they did.

I pray that God will give me the words to say in these blog posts, through this new blog, that can truly reach and speak to the people that visit this site.  I also pray and believe that He can use this blog in a multitude of ways, all for the glory of His Kingdom!

Please feel free to visit Jordan's Haiti Ministry!  I will occasionally update that blog with only Haiti-related posts.  I imported all of the blog posts from that site to this blog, A Steadfast Light.  I enjoy writing, although I'm definitely not the best at it.  Hopefully you will enjoy my new blog!  Please keep me in your prayers as I seek to utilize avery avenue possible to reach people for Jesus!

This blog is still a work-in-progress!  I haven't figured out exactly how I want it to look, but this will do for now.  Bear with me as I tweak, add, delete, re-add, and tweak more things on the blog!  Also, I want to reiterate that all of the blog posts leading up to this "introductory" post were imported directly from my other blog, Jordan's Haiti Ministry.

Friday, January 10, 2014

"Produces perseverance..."

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  James 1:2-4 (NIV)

Amen.  The book of James is one of my favorite books in the Bible (not saying that ALL the books of the Bible aren't great..).  The verses posted above have definitely resonated in my heart this week, as I've been battling some sort of sickness for the past 4+ days, causing me to miss work, get a shot of antibiotics in my gluteus maximus, painfully swallow Amoxicillin, but being taken care of by my amazing wife...what a blessing she is!  Sickness in combination with financial aid difficulties with school and a few other small issues could have given me the 1-2 punch combo to knock me flat on my spiritual back.  However, not by my own strength, but by the glory of God and the indwelling Holy Spirit, I didn't let these issues affect my relationship with God (also thanks to everyone who has been praying for me this week...you are awesome!)  In fact, it drew me even closer to Him.  You might be wondering, "What in the world is up with this guy?"...and I'll say refer back to the verses posted above.  

It's so easy to let trials and difficulties get the best of us, causing us to lose contact and even distance us from our Almighty Lord....whom we should be calling upon and crying out to during these times. Sadly, I don't  always recall these verses during trials and issues; sometimes my flesh likes to take control and think that I can handle it all on my own....but the reality is, I can't.  Not without God.

"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do."  James 1:6-8 (NIV)

Whomever my come across this blog and are now reading this post, let these verses encourage you.  Seek the Lord, cry unto God during your trials and praise Him during times of blessing!  

"Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered.  You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.  The Lord is full of compassion and mercy."  James 5: 10-11 (NIV)