Specific Prayer for Job Placement

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

Glory to Jesus Christ!

The reason why I wrote the title as I did is because my mom keeps telling me to make SPECIFIC prayers for where I want to go & what I want to do. This is a bit tricky, because I don't know what all is out there. That being said, I suppose I never will, so let's run with what we've got! Mapping out my thoughts is already helping, so I encourage all of you to put your specific prayer requests in the replies, and I'll go through them periodically.

I am about to graduate with a B.A. in Theology. I don't have the mental endurance to handle grad school, so I'm looking into jobs instead. Working with teenagers is something I really enjoy, as is teaching. I'm unsure about jumping into a high school teaching position, as I believe the best teachers are the ones with real-world experience. Seeing how much my classmates that aren't very religious have gotten out of our Pastoral Ministry class, this makes some kind of Youth Ministry with teens something I would love to do. I would still be teaching, just in a conversational format, rather than markerboard & tests. I can't stand desk jobs, so if it keeps me moving around, I'd be happy in the position. I think this is what I want to do for awhile, though having never worked in this position, I'm still a little nervous.

Regarding the location of work, I like this area I'm in, but applying for a job in this area has me more nervous than ever. I have the whole of Chicagoland at my disposal, and I would really like to live in a cool ethnic neighborhood in the city. My history professor from my last college encourages people to find out where they want to live, then find a job in that location. It's a lot easier to switch jobs within a location than to switch locations after you're settled. Since so many people in the Bible benefit from taking advice from others in various stories, I think that listening to advice about specific prayers & finding a good location will lead me well. "Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future." (Proverbs 19:20). That's the feeling I got during the Liturgy today; accepting guidance from other people's advice is a good route to take.

That is my specific prayer for the day; what are yours? Let's all unite in giving God clarity for our requests!

"If you wish, my son, you can be wise; if you apply yourself, you can be shrewd. If you are willing to listen, you can learn; if you pay attention, you can be instructed. Stand in the company of the elders; stay close to whoever is wise. Be eager to hear every discourse; let no insightful saying escape you. If you see the intelligent, seek them out; let your feet wear away their doorsteps! Reflect on the law of the Most High,and let his commandments be your constant study.Then he will enlighten your mind,and make you wise as you desire." --Sirach 6:32-37​

 

[disciple Clint]

Glory to Jesus Christ!

The reason why I wrote the title as I did is because my mom keeps telling me to make SPECIFIC prayers for where I want to go & what I want to do. This is a bit tricky, because I don't know what all is out there. That being said, I suppose I never will, so let's run with what we've got! Mapping out my thoughts is already helping, so I encourage all of you to put your specific prayer requests in the replies, and I'll go through them periodically.

I am about to graduate with a B.A. in Theology. I don't have the mental endurance to handle grad school, so I'm looking into jobs instead. Working with teenagers is something I really enjoy, as is teaching. I'm unsure about jumping into a high school teaching position, as I believe the best teachers are the ones with real-world experience. Seeing how much my classmates that aren't very religious have gotten out of our Pastoral Ministry class, this makes some kind of Youth Ministry with teens something I would love to do. I would still be teaching, just in a conversational format, rather than markerboard & tests. I can't stand desk jobs, so if it keeps me moving around, I'd be happy in the position. I think this is what I want to do for awhile, though having never worked in this position, I'm still a little nervous.

Regarding the location of work, I like this area I'm in, but applying for a job in this area has me more nervous than ever. I have the whole of Chicagoland at my disposal, and I would really like to live in a cool ethnic neighborhood in the city. My history professor from my last college encourages people to find out where they want to live, then find a job in that location. It's a lot easier to switch jobs within a location than to switch locations after you're settled. Since so many people in the Bible benefit from taking advice from others in various stories, I think that listening to advice about specific prayers & finding a good location will lead me well. "Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future." (Proverbs 19:20). That's the feeling I got during the Liturgy today; accepting guidance from other people's advice is a good route to take.

That is my specific prayer for the day; what are yours? Let's all unite in giving God clarity for our requests!

"If you wish, my son, you can be wise; if you apply yourself, you can be shrewd. If you are willing to listen, you can learn; if you pay attention, you can be instructed. Stand in the company of the elders; stay close to whoever is wise. Be eager to hear every discourse; let no insightful saying escape you. If you see the intelligent, seek them out; let your feet wear away their doorsteps! Reflect on the law of the Most High,and let his commandments be your constant study.Then he will enlighten your mind,and make you wise as you desire." --Sirach 6:32-37​

congratulations on the BA, you can always return to school later with some real world experience, many of us did.

 

[LoricaLady]

Well specific prayers can be good. However, sometimes we don’t know what to pray for, because we don’t know all that is going on in the world or what will go on in the future. Therefore, I believe it can also be very good to just ask the Lord for his guidance and help, so that you go in whatever direction he knows is best.

I pray you will be given insight and guidance in the right directions, and holy angels help along the way.

 

[bèlla]

Congratulations Alex! What a wonderful milestone. I’m praying the Lord directs you to the job and neighborhood where you can be His hands and feet and find fulfillment.

Please keep us up to date on your progress. God bless.

~bella

 

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

Well specific prayers can be good. However, sometimes we don’t know what to pray for, because we don’t know all that is going on in the world or what will go on in the future. Therefore, I believe it can also be very good to just ask the Lord for his guidance and help, so that you go in whatever direction he knows is best.

Very true! This is what I've been doing for awhile, and making prayers specific feels like the next natural step. I'm accepting His guidance by narrowing down the search as He has directed. It helps refine my own understanding, as well, as long as I end with "You know if there's something better, but this is what I think I want."

Congratulations Alex! What a wonderful milestone. I’m praying the Lord directs you to the job and neighborhood where you can be His hands and feet and find fulfillment.

Please keep us up to date on your progress. God bless.

~bella

Shortly before looking into the Ukrainian churches a little more, my great-aunt's roommate (they're nuns) asked me about skills & classes I had that, besides theology, if it would be good to look into those in a Church setting. Lo & behold, a couple minutes later, I found out that the Ukrainian cathedral in Ukrainian Village has a School of the Fine Arts, with a lot of music classes & teachers! I've played in a variety of bands, I play trumpet & bass & some keyboard, and what might be most important for their purposes is my experience with recording studio software with my digital music classes in college, which I really enjoy! I don't know if they record the students, but I have the skills & the passion to step in to do exactly that! Bass & trumpet were two instruments not listed on their classes, which might mean they just don't have interest, or they don't have an instructor.

What would be really cool would be if the Ukrainians were thinking along these lines, that they might want to expand to include electric bass classes, or to engineer the music, and then see my e-mail...that would be neat! If applying for the job in my area made me more nervous then ever, investigating this job in Ukrainian Village has me more excited than ever!

I say this without yet receiving a reply on if they're even hiring, but I really feel like this is the end of the road, in a good way. As if this is the place where I will be. Whether or not it pans out that way, God only knows, but if I can use nervousness as prayer, then I can certainly pray while full of hope, you know?

God bless you all, I appreciate the replies!

 

[musicalpilgrim]

I pray for the Lord's rich blessing and guidance in your life, in Jesus precious name

 

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

If the weather is nice, I plan on taking a trip to Ukrainian Village this weekend. I intend to check out the neighborhood in general, and go to evening vespers at the Ukrainian Catholic cathedral there. At this point, making my prayer more specific is simply for things to go well on this trip. I want to network with people, assuming this is a good area for me. Otherwise, I would like a very clear indicator that I should be somewhere else.

I guess clarity is really what I'm asking for. God, whatever decisions you want me to make, please make it clear so I will know how to follow.

 

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

I didn't know if I should go to Chicago today or stay back and work more on school work, so I left it up to the weather and prayed for trust that God would use rain or no rain to guide me. It's raining all day today, so I stayed back. Glory to Jesus Christ!

In any case, gut feelings are a funny thing. I keep feeling like I should be a maintenance guy at one of the schools attached to the Ukrainian cathedral. Seems like it very specific way to pray, so I will throw it out here and see what God does with it. If He can control the rain, He can certainly control my job possibilities.

I'd also like to add my friends Jayda & Chase to this, as they're both having about as much luck with the job search as I am.

 

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

This is actually getting discouraging. I'm normally low-stress, which is nice, but it means I'm not so good at handling stress when it comes. Less than a month before graduation, and I don't have a job lined up, or any sort of life plans for entering this place they call "the real world".

On the other hand, I got excited again when I came across the website for the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chicago. I sent an inquisitive e-mail, which I pray may receive a response (unlike most of the inquisitive e-mails I send...) We are coming up to Divine Mercy Sunday, and I wonder if God's holding out for this day. Whatever His intentions, I'm trying to trust in the divine Storyteller, do well in schoolwork along the way, and pray for a really cool place to live, preferably with a cool musician roommate I can jam with.