Tebow Insight

Ever since someone posted the video (can’t find a link right now) of Tebow wearing a mic during the Bronco’s game against the Bears, this part of his prayer has been stuck in my head.

“No matter what, win or lose Lord, give me the strength to honor you”

I’ve read some other articles to get a better understanding of Tebow’s perspective on God and on football, and it has been really helpful even for my own understanding of work and life.

In an article in WSJ, he is quoted to say “football is just a game—and that God doesn’t care who wins or loses.”

Then in another, in response to a NFL.com reporter’s question on how Bronco’s loss to the Patriots affects his faith, Tim Tebow said:

“It puts things in perspective, God is still God. I still have a relationship with Christ, and a loss doesn’t change anything. Win or lose, everything is still the same. What matters is the girl I’m about to see, Kelly Faughnan. If I can inspire hope in someone, then it’s still a good day.”

 
Wow, I love it. This guy keeps things simple and that makes it real. To him, life is not complicated. His priority is to honor God and bring hope to people, and football is just his platform to do it right now.

So maybe this should be true for all of us: Love God and love people (Matthew 22:36-40). I don’t have a whole foundation set up, but I can definitely be more mindful to bring hope and joy to the people around me. And career, church, family are just the platforms where I try to do so? Is that what the word “calling” meant all along??

Anyway, it’s weird how things can suddenly make sense.

As someone who really desires more consistency in her own life, Tebow inspires me because he’s consistent in his character both on the field and off. I know if I were suddenly put in the spotlight of the NFL field, I would be too busy trying to be perfect than just trying to honor God with who I am. So, I’m glad I’m still “down and under” and being refined in my character.

Thanks for setting a good example of living out the faith for all of us, Tim Tebow. And thanks for helping me to figure out what “calling” really meant without the Christian jargon. I’m a fan. :)

Tumblr! & Work Struggles

I’m not moving my blog, but I did sign up for a Tumblr account! =D

I love the platform there for uploading things. It’ll be my storage of all things beautiful and reminders of what I love about life. I need all the reminders I can get.

Work has been difficult these days.

I think one reason is because my (new) manager is not very encouraging. When she approaches me about a possible discrepancy, there is a condescending smirk as she listens to my side of the story. She’s not really listening; she always first assumes that I have made a mistake, and I stay guilty until proven innocent. I really have a hard time with this!

Of course everybody makes mistakes sometimes, but even when there’s a logical explanation, her initial assumption already set the tone for our conversation. Also, because there is no positive reinforcement from her, I feel like my times with her only revolve around “mistakes”. I think my heart subconsciously pauses each time I see her approaching my cube.

Maybe it’s more about which side of the line she is standing. I believe there is a difference between correction and criticism.

We all need healthy doses of correction; it turns us around and pushes us to continue growing. Those who correct us out of love stand on the same side as us. Parents reprimand children because they want to teach the children to be better.

Criticism is more like finger-pointing. When you point, you are exposing for the sake of wounding; you are already standing on the opposite side. It’s a me vs. you stance, and there is only room for one.

I keep trying to figure out why I need her approval so badly. I think it’s because I continue to associate my competence on the job with her complete satisfaction or praise. All of my previous managers liked me, why can’t she even say something like, “this looks good”. Why does she never seem to be satisfied with my work? Apparently, “trying my best” doesn’t mean much to me if it’s not good enough for her.

This is not what God has commanded:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,” – Colossians 3:23

Working for men could be a recipe for doom! It’s like waiting for the sun to rise at night, maybe it just won’t happen. I can’t make everyone love me, love my work, and appreciate me the way that I want.

And this is why I need to remember.. my worth is not in other people’s approvals, and there’s more to life.

Ah, easier said than done, as always.

Warts.

“they will hopefully help us to uncover some warts” – in regards to having a 3rd party come in to do some due diligence.

haha. I don’t know why I find it so amusing, but I would have never thought to describe it like so.

Statistics Numbers = Real Lives

Today, my conversation with a co-worker went something like this:

Her: It’s soo cold today!
Me: Yeah the temperature dropped so much, definitely wore the wrong jacket this morning.
Her: Yea me too, I was freezing at lunch.
Me: Were you outside for a long time?
Her: Yea I had lunch duty for my daughter’s school.
Me: Oh, like recess?
Her: Yep
Me: Oh.. what’s her name?
Her: Her name is Faith. And my son, he just turned 1, his name is Justice.
Me: Justice? Interesting.
Her: Yeah I came up with it last minute, but as soon as I decided on the name, my water broke. It’s like he was waiting to be named.
Me: Aw, cute. That’s cool that your husband let you choose the name.
Her: Eh, well, he got over it. And he’s an ex now.
Me: O..
Her: It’s okay, so it’s a good thing I got to pick the name, although his middle name is stuck as his dad’s name…Joe.. I mean, he was a GREAT man (sarcasm).
Me: (sad face)

I felt stupid to assume that she still had a husband, but I remember when she took maternity leave last year, she used to say wonderful things about her husband. What happened in this one year? Now she’s a single mother with 2 young children. How quickly things fail to turn out the way we expect/want?

I complain about how people at work have kids and are so difficult to relate with, but yeah, I actually have it pretty easy in comparison. I have so much freedom as a single, 24 year old, with no responsibilities at home tying me down. I can decide when/where to eat and go, and also who to do anything with. My life doesn’t have to revolve around babies who are too young to think for themselves. My life can revolve around me, 100% of the time.

When they say that the divorce rate is more than 50%, a lot of times I just shrug and think, yeah.. sucks. But man, it’s not just 50%. It’s thousands and millions of broken families and single parents trying to make it through day by day.

“Tentmakers”

My new project is to dig in to the Bible and see what it really says about work, calling, vocation, etc.

One, because I talk a lot about “figuring out my calling” and do very little in going to the Bible for that. Two, my understanding of work + ministry right now is very conflicting; sometimes I just end my frustrated thoughts with “maybe I will be a stay-at-home mom and avoid all this junks”. Not because it is an easier role, just that it seems more “reconciled” in my head with where the work/calling/ministry aspects intersect.

Anyway, some notes from this message on being a tentmaker from P. John Piper.

1. First, as believers in Christ, you are God’s chosen people.

2. Second, as God’s people you are aliens and exiles in the secular world.

3. Third, God wants you there (1 Peter 2:13) and he wants your goals for being there to be different from those around you:

- the excellence of the products or services you render in your job shows the excellence and greatness of God.

- the standards of integrity you follow at your job show the integrity and holiness of God.

- the love you show to people in your job shows the love of God.

- the stewardship of the money you make from your job shows the value of God compared to other things.

- the verbal testimony you give to the reality of Christ shows the doorway to all these things in your life and their possibility in the lives of others.

Lessons from the Marketing Data Analyst (2)

A new thought, continuing my list from before.

5. Ask good questions. What they say is true, many times you don’t know what you don’t know. When I first started the job, I was overwhelmed because I did not know where to begin learning about health insurance. All the background information did little to help me grasp the things I needed to know in my actual role. People were willing to answer my questions, but I didn’t know where to begin asking. Often I wanted to say, “uh, could you just tell me everything…?”

It’s kind of like leading a Bible study discussion. A “bad” question doesn’t get very far, and sometimes it derails the discussion and confuses people instead. However, a good question not only gets people to the answer, it builds on their understanding to paint a big picture of why it matters and how it relates to everything else.

So, I had a request to put together a report to show membership in each of our books of businesses with different segmentations. In order to put this together, I needed to find the people who had this information. Anyway, long story short, they didn’t have quite the information we were looking for. When I went back to my manager to suggest some other routes we can take, her reply made me swallow another glup of humility and acknowledge my amauteur self. She said, well, they have to track this information over there, maybe you can try asking some different questions. AKA, you are not asking the right questions. *sigh*

Speaking of which, I recently found an insightful blog – Penelope Trunk on career & life intersection. Love it - brutally honest. Two that I’m still chewing on are: 1) make decisions and don’t complain, and 2) why ‘do what you love’ is a bad career advice. Enjoy!

Lessons From The Marketing Data Analyst

I was reading this article of New Job Proverbs and it dawned on me that I am not the only one having trouble adjusting to the working world.

Here are some things I have been learning this past year – still working on all of these. It’s still hard to believe I’ve already been working for more than a year! AH!

1. Be Humble and teachable. For some reason, many business students (me included) learned to “be confident” enough to BS through things. Whether this is taught subconsciously by the big shots we listen to or just a bad habit picked up in school, it’s not viable at work. Yes, be confident. Yes, be great at what you do, but admit that you do not know everything. I knew this, but I feel like I have spent this entire past year learning just how much I don’t know! Popped quite a few of my bubbles.

2. Attitude, Attitude, Attitude. I admit this is difficult if you don’t love your job or your coworkers. But really, nobody likes a complainer. It is interesting to note though, that most of the conversation in the office starts with a complaint/problem. Maybe problems are the easiest thing for people to connect with/bond over, but it is contagious like a bad virus! Those who remain content are much more pleasant to be around. Dare to be different and be the sunshine in a gloomy place? Reminds me of that Salt & Light passage.. Matthew 5:13-16. Be that pleasant person that people want to work with! Smiling helps.

3. Life is not fair, work is not fair. Sometimes, you don’t get to lead the fun project. Sometimes, people don’t give you credit for your contribution. All your skipped lunches or late nights to meet a deadline are expected. However, if you fail to do your part in any way, it is a BIG DEAL. The world ends. Just kidding. But work reminds me of the behind-the-scene ministries at churches – technology, food, sermon editing, bulletin printing. When you do your job right, your hard work is probably taken for granted.  But when you make a mistake, that’s when everyone notices.

I guess it has been exposing whom I do things for, and sadly, most of the time it isn’t for God. I get so angry in these “but that’s so no fair!” moments. But you know, other times when my senior analyst covers my mistakes, it reminds me that we are a team. It also reminds me how powerful GRACE is. We could all use some more grace in our lives.

4. My job is not my life. Well, at first, I used this phrase so I’d feel better about my unsatisfying job situation. But now, I’m realizing it should probably be true all the time. My job should not define who I am. I need to have a life outside of my job – I need to continue to pursue my hobbies, try new adventures, have other relationships – aka, attend to my other callings.

Speaking of callings, I’m excited for this summer! I will be hardcore praying/researching about my next steps in life. Post-CFC, where will I go and what will I do? Only God knows, but I know I’m antsy.