Trading Limbos
Filed under: Job Search, Life, Princeton Seminary, Religion, Seminary, Work
Sometime last week, I realized that I’ve traded one kind of limbo for a new kind. A better kind, from where I sit.
For the past 2 years while I’ve been out of work, I had a soul-crushing type of limbo. Any day I could get a response to a contact or job application inviting me to an interview. Any day could start the process of becoming employed again, in as soon as a few days to a few months. A number of times that process happened over the 2 years, but that was a very small part of that time and never resulted in ultimate success – a new job. The rest of the time I was left with the depressing, esteem-destroying time trying to make that happen. For most people there’s only one path out of that limbo, and it’s always the last path that you take. (That’s a lot like the truism that you always find your lost items in the last place you look. If not, then you’re wasting your time after you do find them.) Some folks get lucky and get the choice of two paths out of the unemployment limbo, but to me that looks more like two branches of the same last path.
I’ve taken an unusual path out of that limbo – the path of further education – made even more unusual by my future vocation. This is a riskier path and I likely wouldn’t be taking it except for a few unusual circumstances. First and foremost there is God’s call to ministry that I have discerned (and will continue to discern in the years ahead). Second, there are some things about my place in the world that are fortuitous (whether you credit God, good planning, or dumb luck) for this path. I live near one of the most prestigious Presbyterian seminaries (and I seem to be comfortable in the culture there). My wife has a very solid income that is big enough to support this. We were able to (and chose to) save severance and unemployment money. And we have chosen a lifestyle that doesn’t include the expenses that others need to plan for – mainly children and their futures.
The only power to be a man click here for info cialis generika is this. With the optical transceiver, http://amerikabulteni.com/2013/03/16/herkes-irlandali-her-yer-yesil-st-patrick-gunu-nedir-2/ tadalafil cialis all obstructing elements are eliminated, ensuring smooth and efficient relay of messages. Human growth hormone injections is oftenrecommended discount viagra india by a medical doctor. Stay calm daily, take sufficient breaks from your busy schedule and take maximum sleep to keep stress or anxiety at bay. cialis pills price So now I’m in a new limbo – one with a time limit. Barring some major unforeseen circumstance, I know what I’ll be doing next September. I have ten months to fill which hopefully will include me bringing in a rather small amount of money. This limbo is much more comfortable that the prior limbo – having a solid sense of the future and my direction is so much better than not being able to plan events and vacations more than a week or two in advance, because one might have a new job that would prevent whatever you are planning. I’m even able to see the calendar for the Summer Language program next summer (still on the fence about that) and next year’s academic year.
But it’s still limbo. I need to figure out what to do with the next 10 months. I would prefer to make some money by doing small church-related projects like Revive! (last spring’s justice revival, which employed me as a 15-hour-per-week project manager for a few months). I can make some money from my itty-bitty tiny computer consulting company. I could go to a temp agency and see what they’ve got. I’ve also got some time to work on myself, to try to continue the personal growth that the last 6 months has included (and the last 2 years, for that matter).
So I’ve exchanged one limbo for another. And I’m in a better place as a result. But the future is still not completely clear. But … part of my growth of late has been comfort with ambiguity. I’m feeling good about all of this.
A quick update
There’s been a lot going on lately since my last post.
The job search continues. Yesterday marked 11 months since the layoff. I do have one possibility pending that would be a 1/2 time consulting job.
At church we’re shifting a bit to handle the resignation of our Associate Pastor which is effectively effective immediately. This may result in some actual responsibilities for me in my role as Vice-President of the Deacons. We’ll see.
Last week I went up to Camp Johnsonburg to serve one day as Volunteer Chaplain. This mainly involved leading bible studies and labyrinth walks for various age groups, but I was also involved in evening vespers. There was a really neat session with a Senior High unit. The chaplain (Lorelei) and I were invited to a session called “Questions and Answers” and we had no idea what questions would come up. We did our best to answer them unprepared and several stories from my life (most written here) were able to serve as at least partial answers. The most concrete question we got I was able to answer once I was back at home (with a major assist from my Twitter followers) and get the answer back to camp before the unit went home. I’m going to be repeating this role again later this week.
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The God Complex Internet radio program continues every Monday at noon EDT, 9am PDT. I’m serving as webmaster for the program and during the live show I coordinate the public chat room.
I’m still busily getting ready for the Montreat Youth Conference later this month (week 5 – July 26 – August 1). I have all of the items that I need to bring as a Small Group Leader and I’m working on going through the SGL manual now with a Bible in the other hand to prepare myself.
Carolyn was gone for about 10 days out of 14 a few weeks ago working on a problem machine at her company’s California facility. This included one 44-hour “day” on the last trip. I think she’s mostly caught up on sleep.
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