Vocation, Day one

Vocation, Day 1

Vocation
A call or invitation to a profession or way of life. But in theological discussions, the word "vocation" is not used in reference to the professional trade one pursues.

Vocation refers to the invitation God has given to all people to become His children through Christ's work.

This vocation, or calling, does not come to people because they deserve it; it comes strictly as a result of God's Grace.

2 Timothy 1:9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. 10 And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. 11 And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.

Wow, it is good to be back from vacation. My husband shared our story with the church we visited while in California and it reminded me of God's amazing power and Grace. How he calls us all when we are willing to listen.

Here is a little bit of our story, many of you may already know it:

In 2002, we were enjoying life. We owned our own very successful photography business, making enough money to give us the luxuries of eating out, entertaining others and spending money on whatever we wanted. 2002 was also the year that God caught our attention. Our friend, Leif, drowned. Leaving behind a new wife and baby girl. Shortly after, our employee, Brandy lost her battle with CF, she had just graduated High School. My husband was the first to respond to his need to have a spiritual life. He was raised with the knowledge of Christ. I was fine being my own boss, in control of my life. Shortly after attending church, my husband felt called to join the choir, in doing so, he caught the attention of the youth pastor, Ish. Ish asked Dale to join him in ministry by doing announcements on Wednesday nights. It wasn't very long before my husband was eager to serve and minister to the youth. I had started attending church, since I no longer had anything to do on Sunday mornings and I occasionally hung out on Wednesday nights with the youth. One day, Dale came to me and said he felt called to minister to the youth. He told me how it was perfect that he knew all the teens through our business, especially the High School Seniors. So he spent more and more time there and his life began to change. Not long after that, Ish announced he was leaving the church, that another pastor was going to come in, but that there was going to be a short gap in between and he wanted Dale and myself and a few other key people in the ministry to keep it together until the new Pastor arrived. Shortly after that pastor arrived, my husband told me he was feeling called to be the middle school pastor. I laughed and said that he was crazy. He said he would be a pastor in a year and that we needed to start cutting back in our spending. I told him I would never be on board with that. about 9 months later, God met with me and let me know Dale was going to be the youth pastor and that he would take care of us. It was one of the hardest things I had to do, telling my husband that God had confirmed this Call in his life. Now, almost 7 years after this started, our lives are overflowing. We make about 1/3 of what we made doing Photography full time, but God has worked through the details. We still work the photography business on Fridays and Saturdays and my husband gets only one day off, but for now, God has called us to where we are and I have to admit that I wish I would have been more willing to accept his call earlier on in our lives.

Is there a call in your life that you may not be listening to?

Have you been called into a Vocation, serving the Lord? Please share your story with us.

Dear Lord, I am so excited to share our life with those who read this devotional. I know you purposed our story for others to hear, so please use me this week to bring glory to you and open up the hearts and minds of those who will read this, that they may be blessed by your CALL in our lives. Please help those who you have called to share their story as well. I am excited to see the response to your call in their lives this week. In Jesus name, Amen.

Please join me in praying for Kathy L. this week.