Continued Work

Daniel 8:27

(27) And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king's business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.

This is another summary of Daniel's reaction to an incredible vision he had of the future. He saw how kingdoms would rise and fall and then he even had Gabriel speak to him. Again, this is something incomprehensible to us and this verse gives us just a little taste of the effect it had on Daniel.

What strikes me is that after a time of recovery he went about the king's business. Maybe my problem is that I try to do work in the time I should be recovering, but were it me I would have a very hard time going about my business after having a vision like that. I think back to last Friday when I was consumed by something so trivial as the shipment of my iPod Touch. I was hoping to see it arrive in the area on Friday so I could pick it up, but I had to wait until Saturday afternoon. I didn't lose sleep over this, but my company definitely lost work over this.

I think Daniel was a better worker than I am. In fact, I'm pretty sure of it. It's common to use Daniel 1 as an example of how we need to be bold about our faith and priorities in the workplace. I think that is all well and good. However, we also need to recognize that Daniel stayed focused on what he had to do when he was supposed to be working. Here in 21st century America we all tend to think of ourselves as pretty dedicated and hard-working, but I suspect that if we wrote down what we were doing every 10 minutes we might discover otherwise. I know I would.

Career Transitions

I'm in a training class this week to learn more about Sharepoint 2007. I see how this will benefit the Bank if I can get anyone to buy into it. I hope that we use it for more than just document management.

Our instructor is from Boston and it shows through every fiber of his being. He has the stereotypical Yankee edginess about him. He also has a very thick accent. What's interesting is that he went to OSU as well and he attended some of the same football games I did.

As a class we got into a conversation during a lab about how we ended up in IT. I was asked the inevitable question of how one gets from a degree in Chemical Engineering to IT work. I told my story and then made the statement that I'm trying very hard to get out of it. I also added that I'm trying to cut my salary in half. That of course got a reaction and I could explain that I wanted to go into ministry.

The cool part was that a guy behind me made the comment that he would like to do the same thing. The instructor was really surprised that two of us wanted to do this. Then he asked if anyone else wanted to and a lady near the back raised her hand. It's kind of cool to see that so many of us want to break out of this to do something more meaningful.

Studying with Purpose

I have to admit that there are times when I get a little down about my studies. I look at how much time I have left (probably 4-5 years) and it seems like it will be forever before I graduate. Of course, it comes back to that whole steady plodding thing. If I keep taking my classes as I'm able I will get there eventually.

The key is to stay motivated. Greek is starting to come a bit easier now that I'm making daily time for it. I've really enjoyed my time reading the New Testament in the original language. I'm looking forward to my second year of it as well as my Old Testament survey classes. I'm even looking forward to my missions class this summer, though I don't necessarily feel like I have the heart for overseas missions. Just learning more about God and His Word certainly keeps me motivated.

However, I've found that I sometimes need a variety of motivations to keep me going through trials. I suspect that it's just human nature to get desensitized to some things over time. A conversation with a coworker this morning helped me tremendously. Gene has been with the Bank for 27 years. In other words, he started when I was 6. I asked him if he stayed because he was really happy or if it was just because he never felt compelled to leave. He said it was the latter.

Now there isn't necessarily anything wrong with being at a job for 27 years. I have an uncle who is going to retire from a place after working there most of his life and I can see much value in that. The thing is that I know that I will never leave unless I have a good reason. As I've documented in this blog, I have a longing for something more in life. I think that vocational ministry is part of that. I'm pretty sure it's not doing IT work forever. It's one thing to say that I want to change careers, but I'm just blowing smoke unless I'm actively doing something about it. Hearing Gene's story helps to motivate me to keep working at the change.

Middle of the Term

I just had my Greek midterm last night. Now through the years I considered myself a pretty good test-taker. I've had nightmares about being completely unprepared for a test, but it's never really happened, to my recollection. I do recall having some pretty rough times when I took physical chemistry, but that was about it. I never got nervous before the PSAT, SAT, or ACT. I guess this is about the closest I can relate to an athlete who doesn't get nervous before a game.

But last night's test had me a bit rattled. We're to the point where we know all the verb tenses in the indicative mood. I don't know if that sounds like more or less than what we learned, but I can tell you that it is quite a bit. We also have learned the basics of participles (-ing words). There was so much swimming around in my head that I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to perform on the test.

Looking back, I think it went well. I'll know more when I get my grade, but unless I missed a lot more than I think (I know I mistranslated one noun -- d'oh) I think I should be in the mid to high 90s, which is where I want to be.

I think my anxiety may be coming from my planned career change. I now have thoughts of going on to pursue a doctorate and that means I am going to need to set the bar pretty high for my grades. Plus, it feels different in seminary. I more or less know my professors and I feel like doing poorly on an exam would be insulting to them. I'd hate to insult them.

It feels good to have that behind me. Now I need to get cracking on finishing my research for my paper that I need to write this week...