Connecting Caring Communities

It took eight years to finally get a degree in something I cared about. Last May, I was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ACU graduate, happy to be holding a diploma that indicated that I was trained in Sociology and Christian Ministry. It was good times to be sure, and even in a struggling economy, I believed that my degree, combined with my skill set and experience, would help me land the job of my dreams.

Unfortunately, I didn't actually know what that job was yet.

After my final summer at Camp of the Hills, I was no closer to finding a full-time ministry or nonprofit job. Things were not quite as rosy as they were in May. I set out to find a job to pay the bills while my sweet wife went back to school. As we tried to not only make ends meet, but begin working towards buying a house, I knew that I had to find a full-time job, even if it wasn't what I wanted to do long term. Delivery Driver for Office depot fit the part.

Truth be told, I did not enjoy my job at the Depot. Being a people person, I was not well suited to driving around alone all day. As someone much more attuned to relationships than details, I wasn't very effective in certain aspects of the job. If it weren't for kind supervisors and fellow employees, I would not have lasted. I will forever be grateful to them for believing in me and giving me chance after chance.

As the calendar flipped to 2013, I was faced with a dilemma: I desperately wanted a job that maximized my gifts/minimized my weaknesses, but could not afford to lose my job at Office Depot that was enabling our family to stay afloat. Thankfully, I had stayed in contact with Lori Thornton at Connecting Caring Communities since my final semester at ACU. Though she did not have any openings in the spring of 2012, she encouraged me to keep in touch with her and to apply when/if a position opened up.

I can earnestly say that I have never been more excited to interview for a position than I was in February as I sought the Community Coordinator job. Lori called me at the end of a ten hour day of deliveries as I was unloading extremely heavy office furniture. After hearing that I had the job and accepting it, I felt like I had the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders. And the weight of the world is even harder to carry in bulky boxes of copy paper.

For the past two months, I have done my best to learn the ropes around CCC, and I have to say, it is a joy. Though I will describe my job in more detail in later posts, let it suffice to say that when people ask me what I do for a living, my simple response is, "I get to know people."

Life is good, friends. Life is good.