Surrendering Dreams

I don't usually respond to posts on other blogs, but this is an exception. One of the Altogether Separate community members recently sent me to a post by Miss Raquel over at the God's Daughter blog. She told the story of a fellow Christian blogger who died in May, leaving a striking legacy behind him.


In the last blog post that he published, Joshua Steven Eddy wrote about the need to surrender everything— even those beautiful dreams that we hold close to our hearts—to the Lord. His words were inspiring:

To surrender a precious dream is a fearful thing, but to pursue anything but the full measure of the glory of God’s love is a wasted life.

About two weeks after he wrote this, Joshua was killed in a hiking accident. 

When Your Dreams Don't Come True

Disappointed originally uploaded by nimble photography

What do you do?


My brother went to a fantastic camp last summer, he told us all about it when he got back from a week-long session. It was a fabulous place, run by great Christian people and meant for kids in the community. They had water slides, a ropes course, archery, horseback riding, swimming pools, a lake, huge mess hall--in short, the greatest camp ever.


And though I was too old to be a camper I was old enough to be a camp counselor. It sounded like an awesome opportunity: serve God, help kids, meet new people, stretch myself, have bucketloads of fun...what could be better? 


Then our family got a chance to go to the fall family retreat and spend one day like the kids do--playing around and having a blast, listening to speakers, being together in comfortable surroundings. In view of one day becoming a camp counselor (I heard that they have to take part in every activity at camp) I decided to see exactly what I was made of. I tackled the ropes course. Now I am petrified of heights, so this was not my idea of a good time. I was honestly scared stiff and probably would have backed out if Mom hadn't been right there with me. But I did it, and survived! I met a wonderful lady there whose sons had been in camp leadership for years, we talked, and from what she said it sounded like I had a good chance of getting in if I applied to be a counselor. I felt completely exhilarated, and the more I thought about it the more I wanted to do it.


So I applied.



I went through the whole process--filling out the forms, getting friends and family to fill out testimonials about me, even going through my first job interview (which was nerve-wracking to say the least). As the weeks went on I waited for an answer. Would I get in, or wouldn't I? I kept coming up with things I should have mentioned in that interview, regretting that I wasn't more enthusiastic. Wishing I could show just how much I wanted this job.  

Work You Love

As a homeschool student I have never had a "career counselor." I never went to a job fair, or anything like that. Just like my other schooling, my foray into the work force is a self-directed, self-motivated area of life. My parents haven't really been pushing me to decide what I want to be when I grow up, but I have been wrestling with the question for many months. 


Since I started thinking about future careers I've begun to think seriously about what my passions and skills are. I don't want to end up like so many people I hear about who seem mired in a dead-end, pleasure-less career. So thank God I heard about the incomparable Dan Miller, whose amazing podcast has revolutionized the way I look at employment! 


Do you enjoy your job? Since listening to Dan I've realized that many people don't. They just get into a company when they're young, become used to the salary, try to ignore the headaches and lack of enjoyment, and concentrate on simply "earning a living." I know that it can be hard to support a family in this economy, but really, if it were possible, wouldn't you rather make money doing something you're passionate about? I would. 


Dan is always coming up with fantastic business ideas (I'll bet the guy could develop 16 business plans on the way to the Post Office.). If you're curious, here's a link to 48 of them. It is truly inspiring to hear dozens of non-traditional (and completely successful) ways of making money, all based on people's unique gifts and interests. My mom has already come up with several ideas for my future career, simply from thinking outside-the-box as a result of listening to the podcast!


Up until recently I've been extremely hesitant about plunging into a college major. I've been getting the general requirements under control before studying more specific courses, but the time is coming when I'll have to "declare my major" and officially enroll in some college. 

I've been scared of that.

Now that I'm learning more and more about what the changing job market actually looks like, though, I've become much more confident. Here are a few things that Dan has helped me discover:

• Most high schoolers do not know what they want their future career to be! 
• Ten years after graduation, 80 percent of college graduates are working in something totally unrelated to their college major. And that's OK! 
• Dan likes to say that you can do whatever you want during the first fifty years. After that, take stock, evaluate, and launch into the best two decades of your life.

I'm beginning to realize that the world doesn't depend on my college major. Maybe it will be English, maybe History, maybe Business, maybe even Hospitality. What matters is what I will learn going through these studies, not the kind of my degree printed on a diploma.

So I guess all of this goes to say that I'm growing and learning, and I want anyone who reads this to realize what I've realized - you can work at something you love! You don't have to be trapped flipping hamburgers for the sake of earning a little money. 

By doing something you are enthusiastic about, you can knock it out of the park with money, success, and joy.