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| 1... Living With Uncertainty 2... The Championship Team: AACF 3... The In's and Out's of Telecommuting 4... Profile of Harvest Community Church |
A Spiritual ToolBox By Annette Kakimoto   When
I ask AACF alumni about their new careers, many of them tell me how life in the marketplace
is so different from life during their AACF years. I hear excitement in their voices
as they share about career challenges and opportunities. But I also sense the anxiety,
uncertainty, and subtle loneliness in their spirits. As you know, being a career
young adult is both exciting and stressful. Sometimes we all need a little advice
making the transition. I hope the following "tools" will help encourage
and equip you in whatever career you are pursuing!Realize
that being thrust from a safe, familiar setting such as AACF into today's demanding,
fast-paced marketplace can be very unsettling. Many of you are making some deep personal
adjustments from, for example, being in a predominantly Asian American/Christian/student
setting (AACF) into an ethnically diverse/ secular/professional culture. Some of
you are perhaps culturally and socially isolated from others as an Asian American,
with the added loneliness of being one of the very few Christians at your work. Feelings
of discomfort and discouragement are very understandable as a result of these experiences
and struggles. Gently realize that this is part of your professional growth process,
but do seek out a community of believers who will surround you with support during
these changing times. This will help ease your adjustment into the secular workforce.With
any change comes the important need for grieving the loss of the past in order to
embrace the present and welcome the future. In my own life, it was very difficult
for me to be grateful for the many new and wonderful blessings God gave me because
I continually, like Lot's wife, kept looking back to the past and what I had "lost."
So do celebrate and cherish those really great, heart-warming memories of AACF. They're
a wonderful part of who you are today! And yet, don't get stuck in the past. Look
for God's continued loving presence and faithful provisions of new but different
friendships, witnessing opportunities, and deeper personal growth. He never changes
(Malachi 3:6; James 1:17) even though your life has changed since your AACF times.Be
open to meeting new, non-Asian brothers and sisters in Christ. As you fellowship
in the true Spirit of Christ, God can show you firsthand the diversity and depth
of the body of believers. Again, our comfort zones may need to be stretched to break
down some of our ethnocentric views of Christianity.Don't
wait until you get to the office to prepare yourself for the day. Realize that the
workplace (Christian and non-Christian) can involve some spiritual battles. You are
up against a system, not just flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12). Get spiritually and mentally
ready before you step foot in your office. Memorize Eph. 6:10-18. Begin
each day by putting on the armor of God. Listen to praise music, a sermon tape, or
a Bible study program on your commute to the office. Spend some time driving in silence,
and then pray out loud concerning your day, responsibilities, relationships, etc.But
also don't go looking for a "demon" in every office. Learn to discern what
is dysfunctional about your workplace and your work relationships on a systemic level
without getting tangled up into it. Take responsibility for those issues which are
personally yours and repent, but don't take on what belongs to others. (Resource:
The Addictive Organization: Why We Overwork, Cover Up, Pick
Up the Pieces, Please the Boss and Perpetuate Sick Organizations; Anne Wilson
Schaef and Diane Fassel; Harper and Row.)Admit
your dependency on God. Acknowledge before God that each day will have more than
enough stress and problems than you can handle alone. Thank the Lord that He is the
source of your strength, wisdom, peace, and joy. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you
become increasingly sensitive to His presence throughout your day.Daily in Christ by Neil Anderson with Joanne Anderson is a
great devotional! It will remind you of your true identity in Christ, to walk according
to the Spirit, and to grow in the truth of God's word. Convert
your daily work calendar into a prayer calendar. Pray for each appointment, project,
and team member at your office. Asking God to continually reveal Himself to them.
Pray that others will see Christ in you and that you may humbly serve others.How
do you spend your lunch hour? To simplify your time schedule, pack a lunch. Look
for a quiet place - an empty meeting room, a side office, an empty table, your car,
a picnic table outdoors, etc. Places you can be alone and relax after a crazy morning.
Allow the solitude and silence to soak into your spirit and renew yourself from the
inside out. (My two favorite books on the transforming power of solitude, silence
and prayer are both by Henri Nouwen: Making All Things New:
An Invitation to the Spiritual Life and The Way of the
Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry). Consider
your lunch time to be a mini-vocational "Sabbath." Cease from your labors
and reflect on God's grace and activity in your life - from making a living to remembering
your purpose for living. Taking
a short cat nap at lunch can help readjust your adrenaline system after it's been
on overload with caffeine, sugar, stress, and people all morning. Those "power
naps" can do wonders for a person's spirituality. Just don't forget to set your
alarm clock.Speaking
of caffeine, use even your coffee breaks to get away from your office and take a
walk outside for 5 or10 minutes. Enjoy God's beautiful creation. Nature repeatedly
reminds us of God's beauty. Pray
for and seek out at least one or two godly brothers/sisters in Christ with whom you
can be accountable concerning temptations, discouragements, ethical decisions, and
attitudes. Pray with them and receive their prayer support. Join
with other Christians at work to fast and intercede on behalf of your company, its
leaders and staff, and finally that the light and life of Christ would become increasingly
more evident. "The true love of souls," said Andrew Murray, "will
become in us the spirit of intercession". If
your job is not your true passion - that for which God designed and spiritually gifted
you - then somewhere else in your life it is important for you to pursue your true
passion. As
a Christian, don't isolate yourself from unbelievers. We are to be in the world,
but not of the world.Render
to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's (Matthew 22:21), but don't give
Caesar (your boss/company/job) that which should only belong to God (your heart,
worship, center, etc.) Set
good boundaries and limits as to where and on whom who you spend your time, energies,
and commitments. At the end of your work day, leave your work at work. It will be
there in the morning (Matthew 6:34). (Excellent resource: Boundaries:
When to Say YES, When to Say NO, To Take Control of Your Life; Drs. Henry
Cloud and John Townsend; Zondervan).Maintain
a good sense of humor. The joy of the Lord is your strength! (Nehemiah 8:10). Your
joy can be a powerful witnessing tool."For
he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust." (Psalm 103:14).
God knows our bodies are limited. Do we? Our emotional, mental, physical bodies were
designed to only take so much stress and pressure before they break down. Acknowledge
your human limitations. Take care of the temple of the Holy Spirit (your body) through
proper rest, diet, leisure, vacations, etc.Use
your screen saver to flash yourself a promise from God's Word. (I was reading through
Deuteronomy for my devotionals. I have Deuteronomy 30:8 on my work computer and Deuteronomy
31:8 at home.)After
work, give yourself some transition time. Play some instrumental music on your commute
home. Allow the music to soothe your spirit and reconnect you with God through praise
and worship. Gently and gradually let go of all the frustrations, irritations, and
anxieties from work and colleagues as you embrace His acceptance and love of you
based on who you are, not just what you have or have not produced at work.I
use schedule planner to help me balance my life with the good things of the Lord.
I use purple ink for fun, spiritually renewing times and relationships; black inked
items indicate responsibilities and duties; blue items are my reminders; and red
inked items are major commitments/events. After a major work project or speaking
event, I block out the next evening to just relax and renew. The color coding helps
remind me of the need for balance.Realize
your vocational life is only one dimension of your overall life! Take a step back
and look at your life from a big picture viewpoint. Keep an eternal perspective on
what is really important! Ask the Lord to bless you with a mentor who can help you
navigate through the professional waters and seasons of your work life.Lastly,
how do you end your day? Often we climb into bed dead tired, we get up still tired,
and the grind begins all over again. Prepare the night before for your next day.
In the Jewish culture, a day went from sunrise to sunset. If we will kneel in prayer
to the Lord and bow our weary minds and hearts to Him, we can enter into that gentle,
healing sanctuary. His grace is sufficient to carrying us through an absolutely horrendous
day or grant us one that is an unexpected success. Each
day we can, through Christ our High Priest, receive His affirmation of who we are
in Him. Otherwise we will believe the world's lies that our worth is based on our
productivity or profitability. We are the Lord's beloved! We are worth much more
than the sum total of our job titles and our paychecks. We are daughters and sons
of the Almighty, the living Lord of the universe.It
is only when we live knowing how deeply we are loved, embraced, and made alive in
Christ, do we find the strength to rise the next morning and meet the challenge of
another day. We can live and give out of a place of blessed abundance. By God's grace
we can become a little more patient and a little more loving to those who are frantic
and unloving towards us at work. No,
it's definitely not an easy task. But with the loving, prayerful support of a Christian
community, we can offer ourselves to God to make a difference at our work. I pray
God will do a good and blessed work in you as you manifest the reality of Christ
at your workplace. (Phil. 1:6; Jude 24,25) We all need a Savior, especially at work.(Annette Kakimoto is the Assistant to the Associate Provost at Azusa Pacific University. She is currently serving as a consultant and trainer for leaders of the women's ministries at Gardena Valley Baptist Church. She has also served as a Minister of Christian Formation for Evergreen Baptist Church. Annette received her M.Div. from Fuller Seminary. She enjoys teaching, retreat and conference speaking, and equipping God's people for God's service.) 1...Living With Uncertainty 2...The Championship Team: AACF 3...The In's and Out's of Telecommuting 4...Profile of Harvest Community Church
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