Pursuing Your Passions

You are in the corporate world and have been for seven years, but there has always been a yearning in your soul to be a personal trainer. You teach 2nd graders in a small town in Tennessee, but have a desire deep down to teach 2nd graders in the heart of Ghana. You know that you have been called to something else. You graduate from college with a degree in Sociology, but are regretting now that you did not go for Marketing. Now is the time to discover your passion and purpose in life and chase after it with everything in you…but one question is holding you back:

Where do I begin?

There are so many different options to pursue, and it can be overwhelming if you believe that you are wandering around without a guide. You may feel like you have too many dreams and so much vision for your life that it may lack a focus or just a smidgen of experience on your resume.

We now arrive to where I am, personally, in the journey that we call life. I am a Fellow with Catalyst (also known as an intern). There are five of us that get to spend the next year figuring out life together. As a Sales Fellow, I get to invite others to join us in the pursuit of a better understanding of what it means to be a leader in the Church. We get to help people to explore just how excellent they can steward the influence that God has given them. It is such a great opportunity to get to work, learn, and grow in this place.

Whether you can relate to me because you are a recent grad, or because you are reexamining the course you want your life to take, there are a few things I will share with you that I have learned during my time so far as a Fellow with Catalyst.

Your purpose is not found in what you do but who you are.

There is a lot of talk around the office about this year’s theme, KNOWN. Known encompasses the ideas that your legacy, identity, and calling stem from not who you say you are but who Christ says you are. This should put some of your anxieties at ease about choosing the wrong thing. He does not just pick random things for you to be passionate about…God gives them to you! God’s will for your life is that, in whatever you do, you would glorify Him. So, for whoever has been wrestling with that question…there’s your answer.

Don’t waste the person that God created you to be by trying to be someone else.

The Fellows get to do leadership coaching with one of our awesome bosses, Tyler Reagin. In our sessions, we take time to explore our hardwiring. We go through personality tests and discuss different strengths and weaknesses associated with each. It is important to remember, though, that there is no one personality that trumps the others. Each is essential and a valuable part of the team, it’s just in different ways and areas. Don’t waste what God chose for you. He actually CREATED you! He thought up each little part of who you are and LOVES it.

By God’s providence and your hard work, life is what you make it.

If God has given you a passion for something and the means to make it happen, what are you waiting for? Take the step in the right direction. Take the leap of faith! Like the great Ryan Gosling once said, “C’mon baby, just get in the water.” (The Notebook, anyone?) You may not be absolutely certain about what you should choose to do amongst the vast possibilities and options in the entire universe, but if you never choose anything, how is that glorifying what God created in you? Take a second and self-evaluate - What are you making?

I have faith in you. I know that God has a plan for your life that is so cool; definitely even cooler than you think it could be. And it is not something that will magically appear later…it is currently happening right now.