I gotta go see about a girl…

A character in wrestles with the idea of a career change. I love watching the process in this movie and I love what the process says to its viewers. I have personally changed vocations in the last few years and it’s been both a trying and a rich experience. The career I had before was ministry: either local church ministry or teaching local church ministry. I’m not the first person to make a change from this line of work, so if you ask anyone else who has they would probably agree that making such a switch is a very unique experience, different than, say, if I was a welder, insurance agent or truck driver. Ministry is one of those professions where much of your heart and soul is invested and quite an amount of stigma is attached, so it’s surprising when one leaves it. I don’t blame people who wonder “What happened?” or “Why would you ever leave ministry?” It’s a natural thing to think that. Nonetheless, dealing with the questions makes for a tough transition.

I had thoroughly enjoyed being a minister. I had never been a “senior pastor” (or what they call today a “lead pastor”) and I never wanted to be one. Even though my job was similar and though it usually paid substantially less, I had no desire to lead an entire church. I did love working with children and youth, so youth pastor was a reasonable choice. And I loved it. I had two things that I most enjoyed: 1) Public speaking. For most of the population this is a huge fear. I am one of those freaky mutants born with a warped desire, even enjoyment, for getting in front of a crowd and either speaking or just making an ass of myself. 2) Working with people. Always loved the people and had a great time working with teens, their parents, other pastors (some were dingbats but mostly they were great) and community leaders. Considering both of these favourites of mine, I naturally enjoyed teaching ministry as well.

Joy and I had a curve ball thrown at us forcing us to reconsider what direction to take for our future. When I say “curve ball,” that is not a way of pointing any fingers or claiming to be a victim. It was simply a difficult thing and many of you have had to face it too. I was let go at the place where I held a full-time job teaching ministry. Here were my options:

1. Teach somewhere else

2. Get a full-time job in a church

3. Do something else

The first one involved the risk of having to invest in a doctorate. This is a wonderful experience and well worth the money, but it was going to be tough nonetheless. The other risk that came with this was having to move the family.

The second may or may not have moved the family, though it was likely to. As I said before, I didn’t feel that “lead pastor” was a job I wanted, so nearby employment possibilities were less in number. Plus, most churches can’t afford to pay a youth pastor much. That’s why so many of them are in their 20’s and early 30’s. If they can afford it, it would likely be a large church with big expectations. Ministers are terrible workaholics, something I swore I’d never be. I knew that a large church didn’t necessarily mean

workaholism was inevitable, but the risk was there. Going to work for a church for just a short amount of time and then resigning because I didn’t like it or because I was too stressed was something I didn’t want in my life. It wouldn’t be fair to me nor would it be to a church. In short, I was coming to face the reality that this was something I simply wasn’t interested in doing anymore. There wasn’t anything wrong about that. It was just reality.

The third option seemed strange at first. What else could I possibly do? My education is only ministry-related. And is changing careers throwing out all that education I paid for out the window? At first these questions made me dismiss option three. But the more I thought about it the more I saw it as an opportunity for a new start. An adventure.

Two things I would like to make clear about the decision: 1) Though there were definitely things about ministry that I was growing away from and/or disliking as time went on, I’m not going to get into any of those things. It is hard to share stuff like that without sounding accusatory. 2) I didn’t make the decision because of being discouraged in ministry. To be sure, I did have my critics. Probably the hardest to deal with was when a couple of my peers had made their feelings very plain to friends, coworkers and even employers of mine that I had no business teaching ministry when I hadn’t worked in a mega church. But again, this never did get me down enough to quit. Besides, for every one of those experiences I had a hundred or so great ones.

No the decision was based solely on what was the best next step for me and my family to take at that particular juncture. For a summer I collected employment insurance. It is my hope for you reading this that you never have to have that experience, or if you have that you never have to again. That fall I worked for the John Howard Society helping young adults get a job who have had challenges in doing so. Each time I told them to chase their dreams and believe in themselves I was saying it to myself. It was a temporary job, so I used that time to keep thinking about what I could do. What I wanted to do.

The reason for choosing a restoration and repair business is simple. My friend was selling it, a friend whom I love and trust. I went with him on some repairs and knew I’d enjoy it once it was mastered. I also loved the idea of working for myself. I’ve had good bosses and bad ones, but now seemed like a good time to try going on my own. Investing was expensive and scary, but just a year prior I was seriously considering getting a doctorate–just as expensive and just as scary. And yes, anyone can get a doctorate. That doesn’t demean the process of getting one. It’s just true.

At this point I should share something that I believe in deeply. If you’ve never seen the movie (my sister says it’s too hard to watch a movie that involves a rat in a kitchen), there’s a line that a chef says that sums up a strong philosophical belief of mine. It is simply this, “Anyone can cook.” It’s a theme in the movie that if you want to do something bad enough, you can learn to do it. Nothing is reserved for just the few. It’s true about ministry and it’s true about anything you want to do or be in life.

I knew this would be a big challenge for me, and has it ever. Many times I’ve come home from a very long day of trying to do a repair. I’d felt like a failure because I just couldn’t do it that day, and therefore wasn’t going to get paid for it. It seemed never ending and the money was barely trickling in. I’d keep reminding myself of that computer animated chef and rat. Anybody can do this…

is a very inspirational movie, and the line that I’ve always remembered and loved is, “I gotta go see about a girl.” If you watch this film and hear this quote in context you will notice the theme of loving/believing in yourself and (therefore) living life to the very fullest and seizing those important moments. I already have a girl. I’m in love with her and her name is Joy. But now I needed to go see about a career.

I’m glad I made the decision. My self-confidence, something that has always been a struggle for me, has increased over the last two and a half years. When I think of how many people are surprised that I would even do this kind of work, I use that as inspiration to prove myself to them and to me.

Anyone can cook.

Anyone can pursue what they want to pursue.

And you? Do you need to go see about a girl?

Congratulations . This is your week.

Best Actress: Helena Bonham Carter. She is one of my favourite actresses and she is brings out her character in such a clear and provocative way in Fight Club.

Best Actor: Brad Pitt. I must say that I agree with my cousin. This is Brad at his best and it’s one of the most culturally important movies in the past twenty-five years.

Best Quote: “Well, I got her number. How do you like them apples?” – Matt Damon as Will in .

Here we are barely in the third year of this adventure, and though Joy and I find the financial side of it still a struggle, the business continues to improve. The repairs that took me forever to do and still not feel great about are now done in good time with excellent results. To all of you who have changed careers, especially in your 40’s or later, I salute you.

Please don’t mind my showing off here…