#5 The Gift of Calling
In the words of Michael Ray, Professor Emeritus of the Stanford School of Business and author of The Highest Goal: the Secret That Sustains You in Every Moment, says that “The one force that gives real meaning to your life, that speaks to the very core of your being, is commonly called your purpose, or calling. It’s what makes you feel connected, motivated and sustained. Take comfort in remembering that this force, however you name it, pursues you. Yesterday, today and tomorrow… you are called to it.”
Have you ever had an idea, a thought, or a dream that would not let you alone? It just had to be acted upon? You would not let it go or it wouldn’t let you go? It would not set you free?
I like Michael Ray’s perspective because I personally think that calling is part of our DNA—part of the purpose for which we were born. It gives expression to something unique, something that has never been before. It’s our unique gift to the world.
I see it all the time with the beautiful people I meet in this work. You can see some of their faces and hear some of their words gracing the website.
The Call to Give Generously
I think of one couple and a photo they sent me that depicts an older woman in Honduras embracing my former client, now friend. She had been praying for years for clean water for her village. My friend and his wife had given the resources to World Vision to install the clean water system for that village and they were there to celebrate its first public flow. This couple was simply born to give. It’s who they are and what they are called to do.
The Call to Adopt
There’s another couple I know who were biologically unable to conceive children themselves. They learned of two young boys who had been hospitalized after being physically abused by their mother’s boyfriend, which resulted in brain damage and other injuries.
They volunteered to take the children into their home first as foster parents and eventually as legal guardians. They have since made a lifetime commitment to these kids.
One of the boys was five years old and not yet eating solid food. The other was four and still in diapers drinking from a bottle. Both almost non-verbal. Within months of experiencing this coupe’s loving care, the five-year-old could consume more pizza in one sitting than both foster parents combined and they both now talk up a storm!
This couple was born to parent despite the inability to conceive. There was an imprint on their hearts that had caused them to pray earnestly to be able to have children. Their prayer was answered in a different form than they had anticipated. Theirs was a purpose and a calling fulfilled.
The Call of Fatherhood
We have a nephew who recently obtained full custody of his fourteen-year old son. He has fought for eleven years to make this happen. What a joy to watch him come into his element as he parents his son full-time. “It’s all I ever wanted,” he says often.
Up at the crack of dawn transporting his son to school rather than headed off to work. There for every football game and most practices. Grocery shopping, meal prepping and trying to keep up with the hunger of a teenager whose stomach hunger alarm goes off every two hours. Arranging a weekly basketball game with not only his son, but a host of other boys whose fathers are either physically or emotionally absent from the scene.
He’s now receiving calls from many of them midweek saying, “Hey, Dad, what are we doing this weekend?” Movies, play station, football matches. He has become the father of the fatherless. Fascinating.
Who would have guessed this would be his calling? Yet it was there begging for fulfillment all along. I saw his sphere of parenting extend in a new direction this week when a teenage girl texted him saying “My Dad is about to hit my Mom. What can I do?” His response was to call the police and get help on the way. He has become a “Safe Place” for many. No matter how many years and how many dollars, he would not give up on being a Dad, no matter how many obstacles the court system threw in his path. His DNA and his calling would not let him go.
When you look around, what and who do you see whose purpose cannot be stopped? What were they born to do and be? If others were similarly to listen to you and to take note of your life and actions, what would they recognize you are here to do and be?
DO WHAT MADE YOU HAPPY
WHEN YOU WERE TEN YEARS OLD.
-Unknown
I am a great fan of Jan Karon, New York Times best-selling author of the Mitford Series and many other works. She left a successful career in the field of advertising at age 50 to go do what made her happy when she was ten years old, her age when she wrote her first book! The quote above comes from her latest book, Bathed in Prayer.
I know a man who was the Captain of the John F. Kennedy Aircraft Carrier throughout the first Gulf War who upon finishing his naval career at age 50, began a fly-fishing expedition company where he was both fishing guide and instructor for the next 25 years. What would you have found him doing at age 10? Fishing with the grandfather he adored. What does he do now besides fly fishing? He has become the grandfather that his granddaughters adore.
When he was ten, do you know what Bob Timberlake, world renown artist and furniture designer was doing? Sketching, painting, drawing, imagining.
In his autobiography, he tells how his mother bought him a set of fairly expensive paints and easel at a young age and how he devoted himself to their use when left behind by an older brother who went off hunting and fishing with his friends. These friends, the dogs, and the fishing and hunting scenes were often the topic of his artistry. As time passed, however, he grew up, became more interested in cars and his sweetheart (now wife of 60+years) and helping run the family businesses.
Then one day at age 40 he came home from work, opened an issue of LIFE magazine that featured a compelling display of Andrew Wyeth’s work and Bob’s future was forever changed. Seeing that art ignited an ember that still burned quietly in his heart. He recounts that he HAD to paint again, and wild horses could not keep him from doing so from that day forward. He took samples of his work to Andrew Wyeth who turned to him and said, “Go home and paint.” The rest is history to the world’s great benefit.
What were you doing that made you happy when you were ten years old?
With whom were you doing it?
What clues can you see about your own joy as you cast a spotlight on these memories?
Purpose and calling may be hidden from view for a while. But the spark will come to ignite the flame when we notice.
We encourage the Purposeful Pause that allows the white space which makes room to notice. We can’t wait to hear what you discover!