To Be Or Not to Be... The Discovery of One's Vocation

The summer after I graduated from college -- I didn't have a clue what I was going to do with my life when I grew up. And, unfortunately, the clock for being a kid was running out quickly.

At the time, I was working at a restaurant in Charlottesville. I had been working there for the better part of my college experience and so it seemed reasonable for me to keep on doing what I had already been doing. But, something wasn't quite right -- in the core of my being I knew it wasn't what I was meant to do with my life. But at 21 years old, who can really answer with certainty the number one question we all ask: What is the purpose of my life? At the time, I wasn't even really a believer but I felt like God had created me for something more.

But then again, at the time I was making less than $35,000 and according to a survey in JET magazine a number of years back, peopel who earn less than 35K per year are more likely to believe God created them for a reason, compared to people with a higher incomes. You can make of that what you will.

One day, the owners of the restaurant asked me whether or not I would consider helping them open up a new restaurant in the area and I was faced with a making a choice between what was once a job to me and what ultimately could become a vocation. But there is a big difference between a job and a vocation. As a job, working at the restaurant was a blessing -- it helped me graduate from college debt free, I met wonderfully interesting and diverse people, and for the most part, I was challenged by the tasks required.

But, as I considered what was really being asked of me -- I knew that was once a blessing would now become a curse in the worst way. I knew that ultimately I would feel limited, frustrated, and even resentful. I knew my life's purpose was connected in some way to leadership, teaching, and social justice. Being a restauranteur was not in the cards for me. God had something else entirely in mind for my life.

The word vocation comes form the Latin word vocare, which means "to call." Ultimately, our vocation is a call from God, if you are listening for it, and one that we are challenged to respond to with the gifts and graces of our whole lives.

For me, I discovered my vocation serving on the mission field with a bunch of youth in an area just outside of Tijuana, Mexico known as Matamoros. We went to work with Habitat for Humanity several months after Jimmy Carter had been there on a week-long blitz build to kick start the community with 100 homes. My life has never been the same.

At the end of the month I will return to the mission field, this time with a team of adults, as we go to serve with The Shade & Fresh Water Project in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. On this side of the experience, I wonder how God might work in my life and the lives of those who are serving. Will God's spirit touch someone's heart to clarify a call to ministry? Let's hope so!