Sunday, October 26, 2014

Finding purpose in work

A few years ago our then-associate pastor was prone to post on Facebook about how rewarding her work was… and how much she enjoyed it… and how rewarding it was. I remember vividly reading her posts with envy: all of us can’t work for the church preaching sermons, having conversations with people about their faith, planning weddings, etc. 

So I did what I try to do, which I’m sometimes more successful than at other times: I prayed about it. 

If memory serves me correctly, I prayed a number of times. I was working in a job that didn’t tell me how rewarding it was. We knew how fortunate we were to work in a department that allowed us considerable schedule flexibility but that was it. 

I don’t always expect answers to my prayers. I pray about getting old but I don’t expect to get any younger. But I started seeing my work differently. I was working as a Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement analyst but I started seeing that I was doing more than watching and manipulating numbers and codes. I was improving my hospital’s reimbursement. I was really improving my hospital’s finances so my hospital could extend healthcare in our region. I was helping spread healthcare into further—needed—corners of our region. 
I started loving my job. How could I not?! Sometimes work was crazy whenever my hospital opened a new clinic, extended hours, or offered a service they hadn’t offered before, I knew I had helped expand healthcare in my region.

I actually had mixed feelings when I left that department a year ago… but I had this sense of the Spirit telling learning that valuable lesson about work prepared me for job I have now, working as an enrollment counselor. 

Work can get old. We can lose sight of why it matters what we do. We wonder if others see it—or appreciate it. We’re likely to stay there if we don’t pray about it. And listen. The circumstances don’t need to change as much as I need to change.

1 comment:

  1. Sometimes the only thing we have control over is how we view our life. I really appreciate how you were able to reframe your perspective...and then grow to a point where a new opportunity appeared. The hospital is lucky to have you (as are its patients.)

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