Finding Our Calling

"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."  

- Frederick Buechner

In my former life as a classroom teacher I began each school year by having my classes build "The Dream Wall" in my room.  Each student posted pictures relating to things they'd like to do or accomplish in their life.  It's an idea stolen from the book The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly.  This was probably the most popular assignment I gave during the year. 

This year I have asked my senior basketball players to send me a list of their dreams, or more specifically, things they would like to do in the future.  My goal between now and graduation is to help connect them to people who are already doing what they want to someday do.  I call it "stalking our dreams" and it can be incredibly insightful.  

However, after announcing the project to the seniors this summer we have encountered an interesting obstacle.  Their whole lives they have been asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  Astonishingly, after 18 years of contemplation, many of them still have no idea!  

Discovering our passion, or our calling, can be an intimidating proposition.  How does one figure out what we are meant to do, and better yet, how do we find a way to get paid to do it?

While I was a graduate student at Gonzaga University I encountered some interesting reading on the subject.  For those of us still struggling to figure out what we want to be when we grow up, here are some thoughts to consider.

In her essay "Work as a Calling," Elizabeth Jeffries wrote, "Listen and be attentive to your surroundings... If you want to discover, clarify, or refine your calling, start by listening."  

Listening to what?  For starters - consider your life experiences.  As you look back at various jobs, classes, sports, etc. What have you really loved or enjoyed doing?  What have you hated?  What did you find to be rewarding?  What roles did you play best? (team leader, follower, motivator, encourager, "glue guy," team mom, etc..)  What made you feel like you were wasting your time?  

In your experiences, who did you connected with?  Who were your strongest relationships with?  Who built into you?  Who impacted your life, and whose life did you impact?  

Sorting through these kinds of questions can help identify those things we were made to do, to enjoy, and to excel at.

Richard Bolles, in How to Find Your Mission in Life, identifies some criteria for discovering our passion.  He says that your mission is,

(1) To exercise the talent you came here to use, that you love to use most... 

(2) In the place or environment that most appeals to you...

(3) For the purposes that are most apparent in the world.

This is not a simple task!  Michael Novak, author of The Joy of Sports, notes that callings are not usually easy to discover.  "Many false paths may be taken before the fulfilling path is uncovered.  Experiments, painful setbacks, false hopes, discernment, prayer, and much patience are often required before the light goes on."

Below is the story of Jamal Adams, a Wall Street success story who gave up a six-figure salary to return to his alma mater to coach and teach.  His story includes a compelling passion to do what he loved, for those he loved, in the place he loved.  

Jamal Adams '90 from Loyola High School on Vimeo.

Abraham Maslow described the urgency of discovering our unique calling this way, 

"If you deliberately set out to be less than you are capable of, you will never truly be happy."  

He's probably right.

A Single Phrase

Sometimes I find things in my reading that provoke thought.  Here's something I shared with a couple of the players today based on something I read this morning in Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years...

Jesus does not promise to make all things right for you here on earth.  We choose to follow him, but there are still bills to be paid, still difficult people in our lives, still pain and sorrow.  Those things are not removed from our experience, and yes, sometimes life with Jesus still sucks. 

The idea that living with Jesus will make everything better is a lie, but there is a more profound truth to behold.  His power and love are found in this single phrase, "I am with you."

The AfterMATH

A look at our World Water Day efforts by the numbers...

   $247.12  Collected from students in three weeks leading up to WWD.
+ $120.00 x 2  of Mr. Sanderson's paychecks
= $487.12  Donated from our classroom at Kennedy High School
      x 2  (matching funds from the Prem Rawat Foundation)

= Grand Total of $974.24 which is enough money to help provide 8,850 people with fresh water in rural India.

But wait... there's more.  We were just one small part of The Adventure Project's World Water Day campaign.  

Combined with hundreds of other donors across the country and the Prem Rawat's matching funds, The Adventure Project raised approximately $52,000 yesterday alone.  That is enough to provide over 450,000 people with fresh water.  

Thanks to everyone who brought and bought cookies to help us make a difference!

World Water Day - Make a Difference TODAY!

Did you know?  1/3 of all wells drilled in the last 20 years in developing areas are now BROKEN.  At The Adventure Project, we want to celebrate World Water Day by raising money to help.

TODAY ONLY - Every dollar donated by midnight will be matched by The Prem Rawat Foundation... AND...  Mr. Sanderson will donate ONE DAY's PAY for every increment of $120 raised on THIS PAGE (click HERE) today. 

My students at Kennedy High School have been selling baked goods and collecting money for the past few weeks, and have already claimed one paycheck.  Today they are working on getting a second one.  Join them by clicking "GIVE NOW" on our fundraising page. 

WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?  At The Adventure Project we are training local villagers in India to become mechanics capable of repairing and maintaining these broken wells.  Regular well maintenance can save communities thousands of dollars in costly repair, while continuing to supply families with clean, healthy drinking water.

Every $550 raised helps one mechanic receive:

* Training classes

* Tools and spare parts

* A one-year stipend to help an entrepreneur launch their business.

*** One well mechanic will care for 50 wells which will ensure clean water for 5,000 people!

Join us as we make a positive difference in our world TODAY!

Which is Easier?

The other day I was reading the story about the four guys who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus to be healed.  You remember the one.  Jesus teaching in a house packed with visitors, so full in fact, that the guys couldn't get their friend through the crowd.  So they did what any logical person would do... they climbed up onto the roof, tore open a hole, and dropped their friend through.

I shouldn't say dropped.  They lowered their friend down, on his mat, to a place right in front of Jesus.

Jesus, pleasantly interrupted, looked at the paralyzed man laying before him on the ground, and in response to their faith said, "My son, your sins are forgiven."

And the pharisees said, "What? This is blasphemy!  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

And the four guys on the roof said, "Great.  Now how are we going to get him out of here?"

And Jesus said, "Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man, 'Your sins are forgiven' or 'Get up, pick up your mat, and walk'?"

That, I find, is an interesting question.

You see, Jesus had the capacity to affect the man's circumstance AND offer him forgiveness.  He could do BOTH.  Yet, he chose to address the man's most significant need first.  The forgiveness of his sin.  The validation of his soul.  He saw the spiritual brokenness masked by physical brokenness.  He responded to his deepest need first.  Only then did he tell the man to grab his stuff and get outta there.

Jesus always seemed to have his priorities out of whack.

So does The Adventure Project  , and that is why I love them.

When I think of helping others, sometimes I am easily distracted by their extreme physical needs - poverty, starvation, sickness, and the like, that I forget there is a person trapped inside every horrible circumstance.  The Adventure Project reaches out to that person by offering more than a handout - they offer a hand up to a place of dignity.  That's something I want to be part of.  That's something I want to give my life to.

So my wife and I are trying to get involved to make a difference.  We have the capacity to both serve the person and help meet the need.  Neither is easy, but the power to change the world is found in every effort to do BOTH.