I know you have heard the concept of do you listen to the calling. So, do you?
Life has a funny way of bringing you in a complete circle at times. I remember when I first started blogging. My youngest was about 9 months old. Things had been pretty difficult up to that point. It was those difficulties that led me to blogging. I needed an outlet, and my sister Mary pushed me to putting it all on the web.
Here I am, 6 years later, still going strong with blogging. One thing is for sure though. Things are not the same from when I first started, but yet I am making full circle. Let’s talk some more and all about that one question,
Do you listen to the calling?
One track mind, so can’t stop ahead.
If you know me, then you know I can sometimes have a one track mind. How so? If I get an idea in my mind, I go practically 100% to obtaining whatever it may be. I am a type A perfectionist, and I do not do well to failing at the mission. I will feel as if I have lost a part of me if this is the case. When blogging entered my world in 2017, we were slowly trying to grab a handle of our life.
You see, our home flooded in the Historic Louisiana flooding. This was not something foreseen. It literally came out of nowhere and there was no way to prepare for what was about to hit us all. So in August of 2016, 10 days shy of my youngest being born. we were forced to hang out in our upstair’s room until we were rescued by our neighbor with a small boat and my brother in law. It is something that I will never ever forget. My older two kids were almost 4 and 5.
Can you imagine the thoughts that were running through their minds as they peered out to see what once was their home submerged in water? As any parent would do, you harbor all those feelings. You remain strong because you have too, right? My one track mind was to get our kids out of that situation and make the most of what was left.
It was no wonder that I would need some sort of outlet after everything that led up to the summer of 2017. Once blogging entered into my world, I was determined to make it happen. I was going to try my best to make it successful. This is only one of those one track mind mind episodes. Many more to come…
From one track to what now?
Do you ever feel like you never reach the top? Like you continuously are climbing, but never feel that “Wow, I did it!” feeling? I find myself sitting in this feeling a lot. I believe a lot of it is due to my personality and the need to prove myself. It can be a real butt kicker, the feeling of never achieving what you believe to be the major goal. A one track mind will beat the same stick over and over again when it comes to achieving that one goal. What happens next? You will lose the joy of why you started it in the first place.
Then you will start seeking a new ‘one track’ goal in hopes to be fulfilled. This has been the story of my life for as long as I can remember. Seeking all the ways to feel achieved and to please all those around me at the same time. Not the best combination if you don’t know how to handle them together. It took me years, YEARS to learn this. So what now? How do you listen to the calling?
Listening to that calling.
When you are constantly tracking down ‘one track mind’ ideas, you will find yourself running low. This is especially true when they are all about achievement. Don’t get me wrong here. I am all about achievement and acknowledge. The point I am trying to make is the achievement and acknowledgment that is self centered and not based on your calling. When you finally listen and hear that voice that’s telling you what your purpose is, the feeling of achievement is much greater!
You then will see your accomplishments as something that is much more bigger than your own. Your are using your potential, your God given gifts, to their biggest and best purposes. Fulfilling YOUR purpose and YOUR calling. And you know what else? Although I am using the word YOUR, it really isn’t all about you. You in turn are serving others as well as God when you do this, glorifying His amazingness. Going back to one of my favorite songs:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found was blind but now I see.
You will find yourself through serving God and using those talents that God gave you. Finally found, seeking God and gaining a closeness that is like no other.
How do you hear that calling?
Okay, this is a tough one to answer. I am definitely no pro at knowing when I am being called and when I need to listen. Sometimes I feel like the world will be calling and pressuring you to make a decision not based on God’s decision for your life. It can all be very tricky. When you find yourself wanting to follow God, where your heart is truly seeking him..this is when you will hear the calling. You know what is also pretty cool? You don’t have to be perfect to hear that calling. Yep.
God is pretty cool like that. He is all about using ordinary people to carry out His mission. Repeat that again with me. Ordinary people to carry out His mission. You just have to listen. Listen to the calling. You feel that tug on your heart that you just need to do something? You can’t really explain that feeling, but it is a mixture of both excitement and nervousness. Basically like you are taking a huge leap of faith. That’s how the calling feels to me.
The calling from teaching.
Let me put it in a real life perspective. The end of last summer, I got a call from our school principal. She really needed me to teach 1st grade. Was it in my plans? Nope. I had planned to return as a RTI tutor. Well, something kept whispering in the back of my head, “Clair, you need to take this position.”
Say what? I just don’t know about that. A huge jump from part-time to full-time. I prayed about it. That voice didn’t die down. So I did it. I started the school year teaching. It was mid 1st semester when another voice started whispering to me. This time it was to step away from teaching. Remember when I told y’all how one track mind people like to accomplish their goal? Well, stepping away from teaching after just the first semester is not what I would call accomplishment.
Plus, there was the fear of letting others down or putting someone in a bad situation. I remember one Sunday talking to my mom about it. I told her my fears and how I just kept feeling like I needed to step away. As we talked, another teacher popped into my mind. It’s almost like God placed her name on my heart.
I knew this teacher was only there until the end of the semester. She was only teaching in place of another teacher while she was on sabbatical leave. It wasn’t until that very day that I started thinking “I wonder what her plans are for after December?”
That following Monday, I got into a conversation with her. We just were talking about the plans for the week, and I then asked her about what was she planning on doing after December. Did she plan to keep teaching at another school?
You know what her plans were? She had no plans! She told me she was actually getting worried about next semester and did not know what she was going to do. It was not an option for her not to work. What made the situation more difficult was the fact that her oldest was attending the PreK program at our school. What was she do with him if she didn’t teach there? So many doubts and fearful questions were popping into her mind.
This is when it hit me. She was my reason for not returning back after December. She needed this teaching position more than me. Later that evening, I called my mom and told her all about it. She too agreed that God was speaking to me about leaving this teaching spot in order for this other teacher to have the opportunity to stay. Crazy?! Those voices and feelings had been validated. I prayed some more about the entire situation, then went and talked to my co-worker/friend.
Before the Christmas break, it was decided that I would be returning back to RTI and the other teacher would be staying to teach. How cool how God works, right? I never thought me going into that position was all apart of His plan. I wouldn’t be there for long, but my purpose was greatly needed.
Praying and listening.
Let’s go back to that one question, “Do you listen to the calling?”. You have to be truly aware of your surroundings as well as be openminded. Pray when in doubt or anything questioning arises. If you are only ‘one track minded’ for selfish reasons and don’t want to listen, then you will not hear the calling. Why? Because you don’t want to hear it. Your heart has to be right as does your mindset.
To this day, I question any calling that comes my way. Is it for my own selfish intentions, or is this what God wants for my life? You know what you do if you feel like this? You pray. You pray for discernment and for direction. It may not come right away, but with an open heart, you will see the calling. Now patience is a topic for another day. One that I continuously work on.
Do you listen to the calling? How can you better your possibility for using your God-given talents to reach your full potential? Hoping you all stick around as I take hold of God’s new calling for my life and blog: sharing my faith through my own life circumstances and what He places on my heart!
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