December 2, 2012
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My Job
@atticusfin asked:
“You started a new job?? What is it??“
I quit my job at the YMCA for a job I considered to be a little more academic. I now work at a bookstore in the seminary my wife attends. I’ve been there since the beginning of October. The bookstore is called Cokesubury. It is a Christian (predominately Methodist, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian) bookstore. I chose to work there because I felt like it would be a step in the right direction. When I worked at the YMCA, I was a janitor. I didn’t want to be a janitor anymore. I wanted to talk openly about my faith. Cokesbury is the perfect place for that. It helps because my goal is to eventually teach in a seminary. To work in a seminary, surrounding myself with books, seems like it will help me to go down that road. Working there has already helped me with my networking.Unfortunately, about a month after I started working there, we received word that all Cokesbury stores (bricks and mortar) would be closing their doors to pave way for the future of Cokesbury. It’s clear to see that working in bookstore or a movie store these days is not a very good idea as everything is now shifting towards the convenience of online shopping. Cokesbury’s call center will remain open, so anyone interested in a book, curriculum, etc… can call to order it.
So basically, I quit one job to eventually be laid off from another- all because I was trying to move up in the world! I really shouldn’t look at it like that. So, come about mid-April, I will no longer be employed at Cokesbury.
Aside from that job, I’m also the youth minister at my church
Honestly, the ministry has been suffering a bit lately because I am unable to give it my full attention in a way that would help the ministry to be successful. The good news is, my beautiful wife is getting a raise starting in January, so she gave me permission to not seek another job and focus more on what I’m doing in the church with the students I have. I think I feel really good about that idea although I didn’t at first.On top of that, I’m also in school. I am majoring in Religion at Wright State University where I’m a full-time student. The program is small, but excellent.
So as you can see, I stay busy. I’ll miss working at Cokesbury when it closes. I’ll miss being at the Seminary, but I know that God’s got bigger things in store for me and I am excited to see where I’ll be lead.
If you are interested in knowing more about the future of Cokesbury, check out www.cokesburynext.com
Comments (7)
Youth ministry is my heart =] <3
Bummer about being laid off at the bookstore ~ it sounds like such a cool place to work!!
Aside from teaching middle school, I had worked with the youth ministry at our former church for several years and just loved it!
wow… that sounds busy
I think we have to be careful when we say, “I don’t want to do this or that job…” Remember what Jesus said, “Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
We know Jesus came to save the world, but for 30 or 32 years Jesus performed no kind of ministry. He worked a job as a skilled laborer. Work is important to God, and while the ministry, including teaching at a seminary, is of importance to God, work in and of itself is too.
I can look at my own life and say, “I haven’t exactly been focused on serving in ministry.” But I am convinced the job I have now is exactly where God has put me, and for me to go off and do something else including ministry would be sin.
Sometimes I’m concerned seminary profs (as well as their secular university counterparts) lose touch with all that is outside the ‘ivory tower’. I believe a good deal of bad teaching comes from the detachment which, too often, happens in academia. If we belong to Christ then our (born again) hearts are equally focused (should be anywho) on doing what we see The Father doing. If that is retail, janitorial, or seminary prof, then so long as God is doing the leading.
I’m personally gratified that God is concerned and active in not simply the ministry he has called me to, but the work I do in the secular world as well.
@Such_are_you - I didn’t want to escape the Y because I didn’t feel like God called me there, but rather, I felt like God called me there for a season. Likewise, I feel like God called me to start working at Cokesbury for a season… That said, I do think it is good for me to be in that kind of a setting.
I do understand completely what you are saying though. I’ve even been convicted of focusing too much on the academics rather than serving Jesus Christ and serving others. It’s like my favorite theologian has said, “Beware you not be swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge!”
@maniacsicko - I am… but believe it or not, my wife is much more busier than I. I don’t know how she does it.
@atticusfin - The bookstore has its ups and downs, but I’d certainly rather be there than scrubbing toilets again. I like being surrounded by books and by people who are trying to advance their knowledge. It is helping me to be able to articulate myself a bit more.
@xXrEMmUsXx - My youth ministry is really challenging because my wife and I are have been trying to build it from the ground up for almost three years now. We live in an area where the students are very involved in extra-curricular activities… the trick is to help their parents to see the youth ministry as more of a necessity than gymnastics or baseball- but at the end of the day, people will live their lives by their own personal priorities, and I have no right to interfere… though I really wish I could sometimes!
@jmallory - I’ve just heard so many young believers talk about escaping secular work so they could “do something for God…” Whatever we do should be work for God. I went through a period of thinking that only ministry could be considered ‘working’ for God.
I’ve met some wonderful folks who aren’t in ministry, but do great things to serve others in the secular work they do. And God does work in seasons… Hope the next season is one you enjoy and find fruitful!
@jmallory - It always came down tot the parents for me as a youth leader. Our drama team was on fire, but the parents were the roughest part!!!