Christians in the Workplace

I figured some people may be wondering what it is that I'm doing now that I have graduated, so I thought I would share one aspect of my summer: my job. Actually I have a few jobs including working in the cafeteria, babysitting, and being a research assistant for this project Christians the Workplace. The caf is nothing too new and babysitting doesn't take up much of my time, but this Christians in the Workplace project fills my mind pretty much all day every day- and I think that's a good thing.

What is "Christians in the Workplace?" Basically, I am working with a team of people to develop a curriculum for church small group ministries to use to start a workplace ministry. This is something that a lot of churches do not have and don't see the need for. I had never really thought about it until this project, but does your church have a workplace ministry? Pretty much all of our churches have children, youth, college, over 50, women, men, singles, young marrieds, stay at home moms, and all sorts of other ministries, but I know of very few that have small groups (or any ministry) specifically focusing on the work a person does. This is sad to me since people spend more time at work on average than ANYWHERE else.

So what's the solution? Well I'm not entirely sure, but I think this curriculum is a start. Instead of churches making individuals feel guilty for not being more involved in "ministry" at church, we can encourage members to love the Lord in all areas of their lives- especially at work. Now I'm not saying that all churches fail in this area, but I think a lot of churches fail to help their congregants see the value in their every day work. What this curriculum is about in my opinion is freeing individuals to do ministry and be ministered to at work.

We are in the final stages of the curriculum now and it is exciting to see it all coming together. We have videos, scripture passages, and discussion questions to facilitate authentic conversation in any number of small group settings. What's great about this is that the curriculum is versatile and will be able to speak to a large number of people. But even as we wrap up this stage we are not done. Now we are thinking about how to get a quality Spanish version and would love to do other languages as well. We are thinking about doing a youth version of the curriculum in order for families to connect when both parents and students are going through a similar curriculum simultaneously.

This is an exciting project, and there is no way I could do it justice here but I love to share what I am learning. It seems no matter where I go now I either apply what I have learned or pick up some new piece of information for the project. I am constantly asking myself "Do I see my work as a ministry, how can I grow spiritually through my work, and am I acting in an ethical manner at work?" I wonder how it would change our work environments if all of us Christians took these questions seriously...

I'm back!: Life after Undergrad

Here I am. It's been a while. Eight months to be exact. Where have I been? In Azusa mostly. A lot has happened in the past eight months and I'm not even sure where to start, so I think I'll just start with today. Who am I today and what am I doing. More importantly, what am I learning?

Today I am a graduate of Azusa Pacific University with my Bachelors in Biblical Studies and Youth Ministry. I am an employee of Dr. Paul Shrier and the APU1899Cafe (yes the Caf has in fact had a name change). I am a roommate in a state of flux as people and animals come and go. I am a resident of Azusa, California. I am a student in the MA in TESOL program at APU. I am a daughter, niece, granddaughter, friend, cousin, student, worker, child of God, and LEARNER.

Mostly I am realizing that my primary job here is to learn. I have a lot to learn inside the classroom about how to teach, English grammar, how to appropriately allow my faith to affect my work, and how my culture plays a part in my teaching. I have even more to learn outside the classroom about how to be in healthy relationships with the people I love, how to have a healthy view of cultures and religions around the world, how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and most importantly how to experience God in all of this. I don't have the space here to express all I have been learning in the past three months since graduation, but I can say that God has been working in me. College was a time of growing but it was also a time of brokenness, here in the aftermath I feel God putting me back together and healing me. I know this will be a slow process, but even just since graduation I can see God transforming my attitudes, opinions, and actions into something a little morereflective of him (at least I hope...). I'm so far from perfect, but I think what I'm realizing is that instead of getting caught up in how far away I am from perfect I need to focus on the little steps that bring me closer to being a reflection of God.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. Thinking about where I want to end up after this year, how I feel about being an American, what I really believe, what hobbies I am really interested in, who I want to be, what I want to be known for. I don't have time to talk about them now, so I'll just leave it at that and include a few pictures from the past months. Hopefully in the coming weeks I can remember to really post in this blog and reflect a little bit on those areas. For now this is just a re-introduction to my life. I do in fact still exist :)

I'll leave you with this quote:

‎"Perhaps what is truly extraordinary is that people looked at this average, ordinary man and saw God. The extraordinary message of the incarnation may be that God is to be encountered in the ordinary." ~Darby Ray

The brothers and I at our Christmas Photoshoot for Mom

Dezi Bakken Visiting after Christmas

Roommates (plus honorary roommate) at Mandy's Concert

Arches National Park, Utah over Spring Break

Family Picture on Graduation Day

Bible Study Group and Other Graduating Friends post-Graduation