The best job is the one you enjoy doing day after day after day. Right?
How many people out there have a job they dread? They might be making lots of money, but they might be happier doing something else that pays less.
Then there are the jobs that are fun for awhile and then they become mundane and undesirable. When I fly, I almost always sit in the back. I am never in a hurry to deplane, so I have no problem sitting farther back, and I also have a better chance of getting an empty seat beside me (and thus more space). After we land, I look out the window as the baggage handlers put our luggage on carts and take them away. I have thought to myself, “I think I would like doing that job…for a few days. Then I’d be tired of it.”
By God’s grace, I have a job I love. But before I moved to Minnesota, apparently I did not do a good job of communicating to people what I was going to do. For awhile, one of the most common questions I received was, “So is this an internship or a full-time position?”
Well, it’s actually a full-time position! Having done three internships in other churches (and working a part-time position in another church), I did not sense God leading me to do another internship. So I’m here at Lighthouse Baptist with a full-time job as an assistant pastor!
So what do I do here? Well, I teach junior church on Sunday, oversee our children’s Sunday School classes and the nursery ministry, assist with organizing personnel for our music ministry, accompany the congregational singing for everthing but Sunday morning services, direct our handbell and handchime choirs, manage our website and Facebook page, assist our youth pastor with youth ministries, oversee the communication with our missionaries, take pictures and video at events, research new purchases and anything else Pastor Bjokne takes an interest in…and I’ll stop there. That’s most of it 😉
Some people have asked me, “How many hours do you work a week?” My answer is always, “I have no idea.”
I’m not paid by the hour, and I’m not required to work a certain amount of time each day or each week. Pastor gives me a certain amount of responsibilities, and my job is to get them done to the best of my ability. If it takes me a long time to complete them, I work well over 40 hours in a week (perhaps as much as 60 or more). If I get my responsibilities completed sooner, I sometimes work less than 40 hours a week.
Sometimes I use my extra time to get involved in additional ministries. Sometimes I relax and refresh and prepare myself for what’s coming next. Every week is different.
In college and seminary my professors often told me, “You think you are busy now. Just wait until finish school and get a full-time job in ministry. It just gets busier and busier.”
I always thought to myself, “How can that be possible? I don’t have any extra time for things right now!”
Well…they were wrong. Haha, at least in my case. I can honestly look at what I’m doing now and say I’m not nearly as busy as I was during my college and seminary years.
Is it because I’m a slacker? No. I think one of my friends said it best a year ago: “It’s probably because in school you did all the same things you’re doing now in addition to all your schoolwork.” I think she’s right!
When I was a student at Faith, I served in my local church with children, music, teaching, Sunday School, photography, and more. At the school I played in orchestra, rang in handbells, played soccer, participated in the Student Missionary Fellowship, took pictures and video, etc. This was all in addition to taking 17-19 credits a semester in college and as many as 18 credits a semester in seminary!
Oh, and I had a part time job as a lifeguard while at school. Oh, and I worked in a handbell repair shop. I guess I also donated plasma twice a week…
The point is that right now I am not a full-time student, and I don’t have 2-3 part-time jobs, but I still do all the same local church ministries that I did while I was a student.
So contrary to what I was told in school, life has not gotten busier, and I’m thankful for that. Three years ago, I was younger and my body was better-built for that kind of a lifestyle…but now I’m getting old 😉
But in all reality, there will probably come a time in my life when I’m just as busy as I used to be. Right now, I’ll thank God that he allows me to be heavily involved in ministry without burning myself out.
Furthermore, I’m thankful to have a full-time job that I love doing…day after day after day after day after day 🙂
