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Washington, D.C. 20002-6518 To Harvey and Annie Gainey for helping so many young people discover the greatest calling Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Listening to God Knowing That God Calls Identifying Our Vocation and Stations Responding in Faith Declaring Our Availability 2. Participating in Renewal Joining God’s Symphony Renewing “All Things” Preparing for the New Heaven and New Earth Recognizing God in Our Weakness Admitting Our God-Given Strengths Identifying Our Root Gifts 3. Succeeding Wholeheartedly Opening Our Hearts Putting Our Hearts into Our Stations Avoiding Riches and Prestige Monitoring Our Hearts 4. Caring Responsibly Caring in All Stations Being Responsible Owners under God Caring with Excellence and Compassion Caring for Self Tasting Heaven on Earth 5. Celebrating Leisure Contemplating God’s Love Resting in Peace Worshipping in Spirit and Truth Living Prayerfully 6. Flourishing in Communities Thinking Cosmically Identifying and Addressing Needs Fostering Work Reciprocity Listening to Mentors and Mentoring Others Respecting Work, Family, and Church 7. Loving for Good Friendship—Sacrificing for Those We Know Hospitality—Making Room for Strangers Neighborliness—Helping All in Need 8. Offering a Legacy Living Gratefully Giving Generously Reflecting the Face of Christ Suggested Reading Notes About the Author Back Ads Acknowledgments I owe the most to God’s Word, the greatest source of wisdom about vocation. I am also indebted to many Hebrews and Christians who have interpreted that Word faithfully. I have borrowed special insights from Saints Augustine of Hippo and Francis of Assisi, Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther, and contemporary writers from Thomas Merton to Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I summarize key sources at the back of the book. Students in my Senior Seminar in Communication class at Calvin College charitably critiqued the manuscript: Eric S. Evenhouse, Art Bamford, Brendan Wright, David Neal Boomker, Emily Huck, Davis C. Watson, Melanie De Nooy, Katherine Sikma, Cat Hoort, Jessica L. Vande Vusse, Ashley Payne, Becky Sletto, Lisa Ryckbost, Lisa Van Grouw, Jacob M. Wilkoff, Julie Heerema, Anne Plasman, and Derek DeWeerd. Other friends and former students who gave me excellent advice are Gloria F. Jea, Sara Jane Toering, Brad Van Arragon, Tom Schwanda, Ren Broekhuizen, and Judi DeJager. I owe a special debt to a number of Calvin College colleagues, including Glen VanAndel, Kevin Dougherty, Steve VanderLeest, Wayne Wentzheimer, and Hessel Bouma III. Friends at other institutions also read the manuscript, sometimes with their students: Tom Ribar of Waynesburg College; Paul Butler of Moody Bible Institute; Tom Jones of Taylor University; Margaret Stowell Wheeler of Cedarville University; Susan L. and Gerald J. Bisecker-Mast, Dan Fultz, and Hans Houshower of Bluffton College; Timothy Detwiler of Cornerstone University; Nelvin Vos of Muhlenburg College; and Darwin Glassford of Montreat College. Bob Hosack and Stephanie Vink served me with joy and expertise as editors. Paula Gibson steered the graphic design with vision and creativity. The Lilly Vocation Project at Calvin College, funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc., awarded two grants that enabled me to write this book. I am grateful for the insights of project associates Shirley Roels, Ron Rienstra, Ed Seely, Claudia Beversluis, Laura Smit, Dale Cooper, Paul Ryan, Cindy de Jong, Shirley Hoogstra, Beth Kok, and Miriam Ippel. Barbara Schultze counseled me wisely, as always. My parents, Theodore and Agnes, blessed me in ways that they probably never recognized. God used even their weaknesses to nurture my faith and direct my life. Meanwhile, “Here I am, Lord.” Introduction D uring thirty years of teaching and mentoring, I have repeatedly witnessed how God calls, equips, challenges, and blesses faithful followers. Nearly every day I hear from former students who are celebrating a new job or promotion, tackling a difficult ethical dilemma, praising God for a spouse or child, or lamenting poor professional and personal decisions. I began thinking seriously about God’s call during my college years. As I explain in this book, the result has been a professional and personal adventure. According to the biblical pattern, God calls people like you and me to participate in eternal plans. He wants us to reply faithfully. When we do, we discover that God employs both our strengths and our weaknesses in the “renewing of all things.” Scripture and life experience both demonstrate that God calls us on two levels. One is the vocation shared by all followers of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that each of us is called to care for God’s world. The Old Testament defines this caring as “being a blessing to others.” The New Testament focuses on “loving God and neighbor.” God calls his people of all ages to be sacrificial care-takers, not to selfish career-seekers. The other level of calling includes each person’s many stations—the particular places, relationships, and work in and through which a person cares. For instance, our jobs, hobbies, and families provide stations. We might care as parents, siblings, church members, and employees. Although our overall vocation as caretakers never changes, many of our stations do—nearly every day. God wants us to respond favorably to our shared vocation and to our own stations so that we might flourish in community, serving others as they serve us. Our calling is a lifelong process of connecting our shared vocation with our individual stations. As Scripture puts it, we are called to “work out” our faith just as God works in us.[1] In short, throughout life we need to ask ourselves how to apply our faith to our stations. Answering that question faithfully is the daily adventure in vocational living. Throughout this book I use biblical examples, my own experiences, and
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