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Waldo09
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Location: Germany
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What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
So what do you want to be when you grow up? You probably hear this question a lot, no doubt often from older people who don't know what else to ask a teen. Chances are you've thought about it at least a little. What's up for you after high school? College? What kind of career do you hope to pursue?
If you are a Christian, you might think about this as a question of calling—what is God's call for my life? Of course, God calls all Christians to live all-out for Him. But each of us also has a specific calling, a mission in the world, a vocation. If you're for real about living for Christ, He's in the driver's seat for everything you do, including work. But what exactly does this mean—serving God through work?
Serving God Through Work
Some strong Christians think about work and calling the wrong way. Here's one of the biggest misconceptions: "If I'm really serious about my faith and want to choose a career where I can best serve God, I should become a pastor or a missionary." Don't get me wrong—the point is not that you shouldn't think about these careers. Pastors and missionaries do very, very important kingdom work. These are special callings. But the idea that jobs like these are sacred while all other kinds of work are secular is not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible describes work as meaningful, as something we were created to do. God's first instructions to Adam and Eve were to "subdue the earth and be masters over the birds and the fish" (Genesis 1:27-28). What does this mean for us? It means He's given us the job of taking care of His creation. What's more, after sin entered the world the job description grew. Now, way beyond simply managing creation, our job is to redeem it where it has gone bad—to reclaim it for Christ and bring back its original goodness. In this way, all legitimate careers can be special callings because all focus on the work of redeeming God's creation. Lawyers seek justice where there is injustice. Teachers help students learn about God's world, develop character, and reach their potential. Bus drivers bring people where they are needed safely, help them save money, and cut down on traffic and smog. Homemakers make sure the home is a safe haven to support the health and happiness of their family.
What's Your Calling?
The New Testament (see I Corinthians 12:4-20; Romans 12:4-8; I Peter 4:10-11) teaches that God gives us each different spiritual gifts. Different gifts equip us for different roles, but all of them are absolutely key for the church's purpose of representing Christ to the world.
These passages were written to the church during the time of the apostles, but the same stuff applies to all Christians. Each of us is specially equipped for different types of jobs, all of which are crucial for redeeming creation. Psychologists who study how people connect with their work point out that God created each of us differently, with our own sets of interests, talents, and personality tendencies. These differences make us good fits for some occupations and bad fits for others, and people usually are happiest and do best when their jobs fits them well—a sign that they have found their calling.
How can you figure out God's vocational calling for your life? Four principles will help you get started: Patience, Participation, Paying attention, and Prayer.
Patience
If you feel pressure to have an answer for that "what do you want to be when you grow up" question, relax. Not only do you have time, but committing to a specific career too early can actually work against you. By doing so, you might be ruling out opportunities that in the end could be a better fit than the one you initially chose.
Participation
One of the most helpful and fun things you can do is be active. Try out a new sport. Get involved in a new club at school. Go to concerts and museums. Volunteer in different kinds of service opportunities, from tutoring an elementary school student to pounding nails for Habitat for Humanity. Vocational interests tend to fluctuate for teens until young adulthood, and trying out different things can help you learn more about your likes and dislikes and your strengths and weaknesses.
Paying attention
When you find yourself really enjoying a class project or volunteer activity, take note of it. Ask yourself, "What is it about this that I like so much?" Think about questions like these: What kinds of classes do I enjoy? Which am I best at? What do I like to do in my free time? If money was no issue, what kind of work would I like to do? When you are around adults with jobs you think are interesting, ask questions and listen to what they have to say about what their days are like. By paying attention to these kinds of things, you are gathering info that will eventually help you assess your fit with different careers.
Prayer
Regularly ask God to provide you with wisdom and discernment, as well as a heart willing to follow wherever He leads. Ask Him to use you where you can be most effective in His kingdom, and where He can use your gifts to their fullest potential. Regularly pray for God's guidance and direction, and for clarity in the process of pursuing His calling for your life.
For teens, the process of discerning God's vocational calling is just beginning. The journey ahead will bring both frustration and excitement, but rest assured: God has given you the ability—and the time—to learn His calling for you. What's more, He promises to use you in amazing ways to redeem His creation and advance His kingdom.
Dare To Be A Daniel
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Dream bigger! Dream outside of yourself!
Dream of somthing only God would have you do!
Dream something that you can't comprehend!
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8/15/2007, 3:24 am
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Janseeen
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Re: What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
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Hell is empty, the devils are here
-Norma Jean
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8/15/2007, 12:03 pm
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GodsGirlEHR
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Re: What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
Ok heres my story. When i was younger I used to be tone deaf (means u cant sing a note on key) and being the only girl in my family, my parents wanted me to be able to sing so badly. So they prayed all the time that there little girl would someday have the gift of a beautiful singing voice.
Then around 5th grade (im in 10th now) God blessed me with a beautiful singing voice. (I can never thank Him enough) I didn't realize it until about 2 years ago that God gave me this gift for a reason. I realized i must show the world what miracles God is capable of doing. It was then that i realized that God was calling me to go with the career of a Christian singer.
This scared me at first since im pretty shy and i had had zero stage experience. But God told me "Please do this for me I will be with you allways you have gone through things that many people in our society struggle with today I want u to reach out to them with your voice that i gave you." So i started trying out for every solo i could in school. But i still hadnt gotten a solo after trying out for a whole year so i cried out to God and asked "Lord i thought this was what u wanted from me if it is what u want then please show me. am i still tone deaf and just dont know it?" but He was there and comforted me. the next year i had several singing opportunities come for me and took each one i could. I have gotten the chance to sing in some of the greatest choirs around where i live for people my age. God Is Amazing!
I have not gotten to start this yet because i would really like to have a band to play with too so i am learning bass and piano.It will be hard but God has called me and i will not give up. please pray that everything goes ok with this! I have no clue how to make it happen at this point so God is still speaking to me with this. thanks! and God Bless!
Elizabeth<3
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8/16/2007, 12:11 am
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JesusRocksHard
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Location: Texas
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Re: What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
Well I really want to serve Him by being a lady worship pastor, or just sing in the church band..I dunno.
Well..Heres my story, its not that brilliant, but whatever-
Alright, I haven't told many people this, but in about the middle of 7th grade (2006) I started cussing. And I thought I was all "cool". But you know what? People treated me the same, bad way. And as I went into 8th grade, I still cussed. But then I was constantly bullied. So I turned to Jesus and stopped. So yeah. That pretty much it.
--- "I LOVE TREVOR MCNEVAN! HE'S SO AWESOME! AND HE HAS THE AWESOMEST SOUL PATCH EVER! YAY TREVOR!"-MC
-_STOP THE BLEEDING_-
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8/17/2007, 5:45 pm
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GodsGirlEHR
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Re: What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
quote:
JesusRocksHard wrote:
Well I really want to serve Him by being a lady worship pastor, or just sing in the church band..I dunno.
Well..Heres my story, its not that brilliant, but whatever-
Alright, I haven't told many people this, but in about the middle of 7th grade (2006) I started cussing. And I thought I was all "cool". But you know what? People treated me the same, bad way. And as I went into 8th grade, I still cussed. But then I was constantly bullied. So I turned to Jesus and stopped. So yeah. That pretty much it.
Thats is awesome! I believe you can thats an awesome choice for a career. you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!
God Bless!
Elizabeth<3
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8/19/2007, 2:24 pm
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pindizzlegurl124
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Re: What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
ok, since everyone else is posting their stories, here's mine:
A few years ago, when I was like 10, I basically planned out my whole life. I was gonna do dual enrollment in 11th and 12th grade, then go to college for 2 more years and then go to...I don't even remember which college I was planning on going to, but I moved so it's kinda far away. But I was gonna go to law school, and since I'm already a little ahead in school, I would have my master's degree pretty early, and then I could get married and start a family. Well, I'm really not sure about the whole law thing now cuz, I don't know, I guess it just seems kinda boring. It would be cool to be a pro. rapper, but my mom doesn't seem to think that would be a very good career. So now I'm not sure. I'm starting 11th grade now, and since I just moved I didn't have time to get into a college anywhere, so I can't do dual enrollment this year. I think it would probably be good for me to go to law school, because like everyone says I'm like so smart and I'm good at memorizing stuff, which my mom says I'll have to do a lot of at law school, but at the same time, I think God gave me a talent for rappin for a reason. Right now, I guess I'll just finish high school and keep workin on my cd...and maybe I can rap at my youth group or something  .
And yeah, that's my story (you should all be glad it's not as long as the KJ story)
--- " YAY TREVOR. GO TREVOR. TREVOR ROCKS..TREVOR IS AWESOME..TREVOR..OWNS trevor umm..IS BEAUTIFUL.." --JesusRocksHard
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8/19/2007, 3:42 pm
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JesusRocksHard
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Location: Texas
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Re: What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
And I kind-of forgot this part..My 8th grade year..  Not the greatest time..-
So now I was in 8th grade and I FINALLY stopped cussing. I was so happy that i was gonna get closer to God and all that sweet stuff. Except that I never got to do that until the end of that year.
I never focused on God that year because I was stressed and worried. I prayed rarely. Mainly because I was so scared. The only thing that kept me from hurting myself was my family who are strong believers.
Anyway, If I thought that stopping my cussing got me closer to Him, I was wrong. This is the real thing.
The truth is that I was scared of killing myself.
There were so many secrets that I knew about people and what they said about my friends and stuff. I was feeling so depressed.
Then it became worse. Around the time of halloween, my brothers friend committed suicide. I only met him once, and the scary thing is that he was the happiest and nicest person ever. Suicide was stuck in my head.Suicide is what I wanted so bad.
But i am so over that now. It is really scary when someone kills themselfs because everyone else thinks that you might as well join them.
That was my in depth story. So anyway, I am in 9th grade and I love my Jesus so much now. I never attempted to kill myself and I never cut myself. I just thought about it. And that was all Him, He didn't let me hurt myself. I will gladly say that I am now starting to read the Bible, even if Im only in Genesis. haha...
So yeah..8th grade year was hard.
Last edited by JesusRocksHard, 10/13/2007, 1:47 pm
--- "I LOVE TREVOR MCNEVAN! HE'S SO AWESOME! AND HE HAS THE AWESOMEST SOUL PATCH EVER! YAY TREVOR!"-MC
-_STOP THE BLEEDING_-
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10/13/2007, 1:45 pm
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