what work has taught me

One thing we have talked about in Kairos (the program I am doing this summer alongside my job) is knowing yourself. Self-awareness is crucial in determining steps in life and following the Lord. I have been able to learn a lot about myself in recent years through personality tests and spiritual gifts tests and equipping classes through Crusade, so I felt like I had it down. Before this summer, I knew myself pretty well.

But I knew the general "me." I think there is "me," and then there is the more specific parts of "me" - how my tendencies relate to specific areas in my life. Through dating Eric over the past eight months, I have really learned a lot about myself: how I process information, how I handle disagreements, what alone time looks like, how I make decisions.

But being at Acumen has taught me about a whole 'nother part of me: the work me. I have learned that I like to have solid goals and practice steps to take to achieve those goals. This might be partially due to my time on student staff with Campus Crusade: Tim Casteel used the strategic planning method for us to identify current realities, set goals, then determine strategic path steps to achieve those goals. I really like this structure, but that's not always the way things are.

I had a conversation with Josh, my immediate "boss" (shhh, don't tell him I called him that four letter word) about this. He saw that I was struggling with a project and told me, "If we were going to build a house, but didn't have any blueprints, what would you start doing?" I said, "Well, what kind of a house? How many stories? How big?" and he responded with, "No, we're not making plans. The materials are all there, so we can just start building. What would you do?" Honestly, I would go crazy! That's not comfortable for me!

And speaking of comfortable, I have learned that even at work you won't always be assigned things you think you are good at. I have been praying that I would have joy at work and would approach things with full enthusiasm - then got majorly humbled when I had a sour attitude last week due to working on projects that weren't exactly the ones I wanted to do. But, in that, I am learning to adapt and be flexible and push myself. Those who stay in their comfort zones rarely achieve anything great.

And I am learning how to make friends. And that has been one of the sweetest joys of my job, and something I hope I can continue to invest in.