My young adult life has been full of trials and errors. I have spent the last five or so years trying to decide what I wanted to do as a profession. All throughout high school, I had my heart set on culinary school. After a job in a bakery, I threw that idea out the window and moved on to my next passion: journalism. My senior project was to produce my own magazine. I wrote articles, conducted interviews, photographed events, and mastered a layout program all while finishing up my high school career. Well, after that fiasco, I knew with absolute certainty: journalism is not a one-man job. Also, I know now that I do not want to write my own articles for a living; I want to edit. Now, I am an intern for Engage Magazine and I get to see a whole different side of journalism than the one I knew.
Long story short, life is a learning experience. Every job you take, from babysitting to interning at a large corporation, will prepare you for both your future career and life as a well-rounded adult. It is easy to look at internships and entry-level jobs as “beneath” you. Surely your time is worth more than minimum wage to do the jobs nobody else wants to do. But remember, you have very little knowledge in the field you are entering, so it is only fair you should be given the easy jobs. But don’t take it personally, that is how you learn.
When I started my first job at the bakery, I expected to be ushered into the kitchen, handed an apron and recipe, and put to work. But instead, on my first day, I found myself washing dishes and cleaning tables. Though I did not realize it then, that time was some of the most valuable because I got to watch the other bakers and learn the order of operations at the bakery. I could see first-hand which size pans they used for specific deserts and which oven was for the bread or the cakes. Through washing dishes I learned two things. Firstly, how a professional kitchen operated. Secondly, I learned that I did not want to spend the rest of my life hidden away said kitchen. So even though washing dishes seemed like a menial task I wanted no part of, it proved to be the most important in my short culinary career.
Through that first day of working at the bakery, I learned that a large dose of humility is necessary when starting a new job. Sure, it hurt my pride a little to wash dishes instead of icing a cake, but I got over it. William Arthur Ward, American author and speaker, once said, “Greatness in not found in power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service, and character.” Ward realized humility is necessary through all stages of life.
God gives us purpose in everything we do for Him. Sometimes He uses our jobs and coworkers to show us something. Maybe it is to teach us humility, maybe how to lead. It does not matter if we are CEO of a large company or intern at a small, local bakery, God will use us to the fullest if we are following His plan for our life. Through every experience, we will grow and change according to God’s plans for us.
I often struggle to continue work at things that I no longer find fulfilling. After I realized I did not want to go to culinary school, I was ready to immediately leave the bakery and start pursuing a career somewhere else. However, I had to fight that feeling and continue working because I made a commitment to the owner of that bakery and I had to fulfill that promise. I did not want to keep working and I threatened (silently) to quit more than once simply because I found no purpose in that job anymore.
The reality is this: everything we do is for the glory of God. So we should work hard at every task, whether it feels worthwhile at the time or not, because God will be glorified through it. Humans were made to work. We can find purpose and fulfillment through honest work. So even though I was tired of working at the bakery, I was still glorifying God because I was pursuing a life of purpose. I felt He was telling me to stay where I was in life for a little bit longer before moving on to the next phase He used my reluctant obedience for His glory and my good. As Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” When we follow God’s plans for our life, He will bless our experiences, whether that is washing dishes or writing blogs.
