A calling {even when it's boring!}

I'll admit, the last few days i've been viably restless with this season i'm living in right now…mainly, that i'm in grad school {sound familiar?}. In the last week, a few friends have emailed me some very glamorous job opportunities that literally looked like perfect jobs for Kev and I. One was in Uganda doing really great work with an awesome company, another "required" world travel (as if that isn't the best thing EVER!) doing inspirational work with water all over the globe. I felt a shade depressed that we couldn't just pick up and GO. I tried to reason with God, asking him why I wasn't done with this masters program sooner, because "hello God, this is the perfect job for us, and NOW'S THE TIME!". {cue the Good Lord and his bemusment!}

Not to mention, the world cup is on now and all I want to do is WATCH SOCCER. And then there's the beach, and family reunions, and all my taped "House Hunter International" shows that I still need to watch, and i'm like "why am I in school again??, because everything else looks so much more fun!". And instead, i'm slaving away reading textbooks, discussing in online forums, and punching keys to write papers.  Today I sat sentimental in Kev's lap, and asked him "what am I doing?".

He laughed. And I did too.

Because at the bottom of all of this restlessness, I know without a shadow of a doubt that i'm living into my calling. That i'm fulfilling a dream that God has set deep inside of me. And sometimes our calling requires hard work. Dedication. commitment. And boring days.

I really do believe we were all made for something great. Something full of meaning and purpose that fills our soul with an energy from the one who created LIFE itself. God has given each of us a slice of his Kingdom that we get to bring to earth through our actions and love, kindness and peace.

But sometimes our calling is boring and there's no confetti.

Sweet Jesus was given the greatest calling of them all, to come to this world and love the heck out of us crazy people, die on a cross to bring us ultimate healing and relationship with God, and then reign. He had the most epic of callings,

and yet,

he labored as an obscure carpenter under his father for years. boring. 
he sat at the temples and learned scriptures hours upon hours. boring
he walked around in a desert for 40 days. boring. 

And yet all these boring things prepared him to live his calling. The calling that saved me, saved you. And while these seemingly insignificant tasks were monotonous, yes, and boring, they were life changing for the world, for my very soul.

If you are in a place that you find incredibly boring or routine, take heart! This might be part of the training grounds for some epic calling God may have on your life. I worked a non-profit job for many years that at times was incredibly routine and monotonous (and I may or may not have speculated that my eye balls were going to fall out of my head if I had to look at the computer screen for one more minute!) the experience I gained was the exact skill I was asked to perform over in Nepal for the aftercare home. And that was not boring, but brilliant. But I needed that training before hand to equip and prepare me for something greater.

And so as I labor to gain my masters degree in marriage and family therapy, and become a counselor, I remember that this is my training grounds for something God is stirring deep within my soul. I know that He has something prepared for me that is life altering, that is useful and productive, and that is kingdom building. But for now, my job is to trust him and work hard. To allow Him to pour into me, so that I may pour out love to others.

lean into your calling with hope, expectancy, and faith,
even when it is boring.

Happy day friends!

"set a fire down in my soul, 
that I can't contain, 
and I can't control. 
I need more of you God, 
I need more of you God"