Tomorrow, after a month of unemployment, I return to work...at a church.
I have no experience. I have nothing that qualifies me for this job, other than a deep love of Jesus and His Church and a true desire to serve Him. I know some of the people with whom I will be working, which is great, because in a sense, I already have friends there. And do you know what's really cool? The Pastor has a dog...a St. Bernard.
I can't wait to meet him. (The dog, I mean...I already met the Pastor and he's very cool. I just respect him that much more because he has a big dog.)
In all seriousness, it's always hard to start a new job, especially one that is very visible to others.
My goal is to do well, serve God, serve the parish, and do whatever I'm told...and whatever else I'm supposed to do. And do it well.
God help me. I have NO IDEA what I'm doing!
15 comments:
Sounds like I felt when I started teaching. You just have to Be Brave.... do what you can do... recognise that you will make mistakes and you can learn from them... and go for it! Have fun!
Just remember the words from the book of Joshua:
Be strong and of good courage. Neither be afraid nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
You'll do great! Congrats.
Congratulations adoro! Just turn to God and the Holy Spirit and you will always do fine, no, marvelously, in your work.
I might be working in a church in the future myself :)
Am I going to have to visit 170 or so parishes trying to figure out which one? It is Catholic, I hope!?!
Adoro:
You will do fine, remember your love for Christ and that the parish's mission, above all else, is to make that known in the world. (It is NOT to provide a soccer team for every child!)
For a good read on what a parish is to be about, see this: http://www.siena.org/library/parish.htm
Adoro: I'm praying for you today. I'm so happy for you!
Congratulations! Let us know how it goes! The Holy Spirit will guide you! Be at peace - all will be well!
Angela Messenger
I have no doubt you'll be great. Good luck and God bless you in your new job.
What Kiwi Nomad said. I know I made all sorts of mistakes my first year of teaching; but my students still learned something from me and I learned from all my mistakes.
I am sure you are where God wants you to be. He might let you be tested. But as long as you do the best you can and ask Him for help when you feel overwhelmed, I am certain you will do a great job.
Starting a new job is always somewhat nerve-racking, even if you supposedly know what you are doing.
My firm belief is that most jobs (aside from those requiring specific technical skills) can be done by any intelligent person, willing to learn, who has a decent work ethic.
Therefore, I know you'll be fine, but I'll pray so that you know it too!
pray to St Frances every day
Let me give you a small tidbit of advice from my 6 years working for the Church in a parish.
Remember always that while the Church is divine, the people who work for Her are fully human and falible. Somehow when I was at the parish I thought that everything would be so much nicer than working in the secular world, but I came to find that people are ruthless to keep thier little fiefdoms intact and dont' dare cross into their teritory.
I am sure that your experience will be much less stressful than mine.
Thank you, everyone!
While some of my job does involve teaching, most of it surrounds planning Faith Formation, coordinating the catechists and other volunteers, etc, and a bunch of stuff I don't know about yet and that NO ONE learns in class.
Ray ~ Catholic?! Heck no! I'm teaching at a Baptist church. Those kids will be praying the rosary in a week!
I can see it now. "10,000 Lakes Baptist Convention" called on carpet by SBC for Marian Devotions, Eucharistic Adoration and Fatima Pilgrimages. You're going to need some help, Adoro!
"I have no experience. I have nothing that qualifies me for this job, other than a deep love of Jesus and His Church and a true desire to serve Him."
That makes you better qualified than most.
*praying, as usual.
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