Rediscovering Advent

Advent is a Latin word which means “coming” or “beginning.”

I grew up in a church that observed the liturgical calendar. But to be honest, many of the traditions and rituals were lost on me. I knew what I was supposed to do, at what point in the service, but I didn’t know why.

In college I started attending non-denominational churches, which often didn’t follow the liturgical calendar. For a time, the break from traditions was good for me: it allowed me to make sure my “religious actions” came from my own faith, not just because it was the right time of the service (or year) to do that particular thing.

But in the past few years I’ve been rediscovering the rhythms of the church calendar. I’m seeing these traditions – that used to have limited meaning for me – in a whole new light. I’m finding out how the rituals are steeped in significance and are really useful for focusing your heart and mind on God and learning more about Him.

To help me anticipate Christmas this year, I’ve been reading “A Jesus Advent Celebration” by Ann Voskamp. It’s wonderful – every day has a short scripture reading that shows how history was pointing to Jesus long before He was born. She writes a brief commentary and includes a small exercise or application point.

Here are a few reasons I think you should check it out:

• It’s accessible – she includes the day’s scripture right there. And she is a gifted writer, painting pictures with her words in the commentary portion
• It’s short – it takes me about 10 minutes each day
• It helps me keep the true meaning of Christmas as my focus
• It’s free! She’s giving it away!

Check it out!

ps – don’t have any concern that you are “starting late” – we’re not even halfway through Advent. Just jump in today. Or - read two per day till you catch up if you're worried about missing anything.

ps#2 – I endorse doing this study in conjunction with your chocolate Advent calendar. And I won’t tell anyone if you steal chocolate from a few days ahead (I’ve never done that myself, of course!)

Adjusting to a new job (aka: I just want to figure out how the copier works)

I just dashed off a monthly financial report in about 2 hours. When I first started this job, and started doing this report, it took me the better part of two days. I didn’t know where to find the information I needed, I was inept at the program we used, I didn’t know how to update the graphs.

Now, instead of a daunting task that I dread at the end of each month, I can fit it in at the end of a day without any pressure!

You know what it's like: you've put the hard work into finding a new job and it is time for your first day. You walk in excited and confident, and within minutes, you're confounded by the copier as you try to make copies of HR forms. You feel like you have to ask someone for help with everything.

If you've been at your job for a while, think back to your early days when you didn't know the organization's "best practices" for how to start a project. Now you breeze through project startup without a second thought. Or think about how you used to be so confused by the org-chart. Who is your boss' boss? What does that person across the room do? Now you know exactly who to go to for any question you have.

If you're new at your job - take heart - there's always an adjustment phase. Here are a few tips to speed it up:

- Take notes like it's your job: get a notebook, write down observations and details as you go through the day. Who is responsible for what? Where are documents stored on the shared drive? Who really seems to know what's going on? At the very least, write a summary to yourself at the end of each day about what you worked on and who you worked with. Review your notes or summaries every few days till the knowledge rests firmly in your head.

- Volunteer for specific tasks: Don't just say "I am happy to help however" say "I know you need help writing that press release, I have experience with that, could I take the first stab at it and send it to you for revisions?" You'll get to know more about a project and let people know what your skills are.

- Give yourself grace: in a few months, you'll have a handle on these tasks and be on to new challenges (a quick survey of those around me says it takes anywhere from 6 to 18 months till you really feel like you have your feet under you).

So relax - you'll get there soon enough. And if you're already adjusted - help the new gal. Show her how the copier works, and introduce her to the person who really runs the office.

Interview with Rebecca: what is a "calling?"

There’s so much wisdom around me, I’m constantly amazed how thoughtful the women in my life are. I want to share some of their thoughtfulness with you, so I’m starting an “interview series” here on the blog.  My first interview is with my friend Rebecca. She lives in Colorado and is the project manager for a marketing agency. She enjoys exploring various creative outlets and checking off her bucket list with her husband.  We’ve known each other for at least 10 years and have bonded over things like the Fast and the Furious, or trying our legs at surfing North Carolina waves.

In addition to being a great friend, she is a HUGE help to me. For the past several months she has been the “project manager” for the book I’m writing. Her editorial abilities and powerful organizational skills are invaluable to me! 

For this interview, we talked about the concept of a “calling” and what it means to her.  

EK: Christians refer a lot to the term “calling” – what do you think that is?

Rebecca: I think our ultimate calling is to our relationship with God, that’s first and foremost what we’re called to. Then, there are a whole lot of other callings – long-term callings and temporary callings. Family is a long-term calling – for me it’s with [my husband], my sisters, my niece and nephews. And there are short-term callings: people who come into your life for a while, that you’re called into relationship with, but it’s not permanent. Or things like a job – you’re called to it for a few years, but you won’t be doing it for the rest of your life.

EK: How can people figure out their callings?

Rebecca: It’s a combination between knowing God and knowing how God created you. I think you need to listen to the yearnings of your heart, watch the reactions of your heart when people ask you to do specific things – do you respond well? Some of our skills and abilities are gifts that are part of our calling - we are able to use those skills in a job and it starts to feel “right,” it starts to point us more towards who we are called to be.

EK: Why do people often immediately associate calling and job?

Rebecca: I think it’s because it’s the most tangible activity that provides us with an outward identity.  It’s that one thing that we do for 8+ hours a day. It’s a shortcut for how people get to know you – but that’s really just superficial.  There is so much more to a person that just your job title, and that job title may not even describe all that you do in a day.  I believe that as Christians, we long for that deep calling.  But as those who are influenced by our culture, we’ve put “our calling” into a box called “career.” But God’s “callings” on our lives are much bigger and more varied than that.

EK:I know you’ve recently undergone a change in jobs – how has that impacted your view of “callings?”

Rebecca: There are lots of reasons why people change course – they lose a job, someone passes away. Some people change jobs because they are dissatisfied, but then they feel bad that they are dissatisfied, like they’re unhappy with God, rather than just being unhappy with their job.

I had a little of that (the dissatisfaction with my job, and then feeling bad about it).  But when I realized that a job wasn’t necessarily a permanent calling, and that particular professional calling had run its course, I started to feel more freedom about the other callings in my life and how I could incorporate them into a job.

I took time to do things like informational interviews, to see where my skills would best fit with different opportunities. I realized I could use some of the skills that are my calling, and translate them into a job – and now I love my job more than I thought I could. I’m in my sweet spot.

Rebecca – thanks for taking the time to help us understand that a calling is more than a job. It’s primarily about our relationship with God, and the unique ways he’s developed us personally. We can use some of those unique traits in our job, but our job isn’t our permanent calling. 

More than just a cool video - Faith and Work Conference in Dallas

A few weeks ago I showed you this video about the Right Now Work as Worship Conference. Isn't that cool? This past Thursday we got to hear speakers from around the country and meet conference attendees, some of whom came from around the world!

My favorite part was a breakout session called "Why God Calls us into the Marketplace." It was facilitated by Mark Russell - the author of several books at the intersection of business and ministry. He led a discussion between Bill Peel - the Executive Director for the Center for Faith and Work at LeTourneau University and Michael Craven - President of the Center for Christ and Culture. It was a great perspective on the intrinsic value of the work we do.

A lot of the conference highlighted "business as mission" and the instrumental value of the work we do: how it allows us to be a presence for God in the workplace, or how we can use the money we earn to support Godly goals. This breakout session focused on the fact that business does a genuine good, in-and-of-itself. They said the gospel is greater than salvation, evangelism is greater than an event, and mission is greater than ministry.  Awesome insight.

We also heard from several other great speakers:

• Matt Chandler reminded us not to "live vicariously through someone else's faith." He cited it as a common problem in the information age when "everyone's revelations are available online, you don't have to go into the Word yourself."
• Norm Miller who said "life is about the maximum utility of assets" and we want to maximize the assets God gave us, for His purposes.
• JR Vassar who addressed the common concern of "maybe I should go into full time ministry?" by saying "don't do something different [go into ministry] - but do what you're doing differently [do your job with purpose and passion and as a form of worship]."

Plus, we just enjoyed being in Texas! Good food and good friends!