following our passions

I was honored that the president of the company wanted to have lunch with me. I had no idea the purpose was to fire me.

You see, he explained, as a creative account executive with his advertising agency you have to be able to write. And in his mind I wasn't up to the task. 

I was devastated and humiliated. When I graduated from college there was only one thing I really wanted to do: Whatever job I got it had to involve writing. That’s what I was passionate about, had been trained to do, and had received positive feedback on doing.

And yet here was a professional—my first boss in the work world, somebody who presumably knows a writer when he sees one—who was convinced I was a pretender.

To paraphrase my boss, he was saying, “Get a job where you don’t have to write, son.”

Taking his advice, my next job was selling tickets for a professional indoor soccer team. While I did okay in sales, my heart wasn’t in it. Not really. I still wanted to write. I just had to write.

So I decided to interview a fellow worker about his elaborate soccer memorabilia collection, wrote a feature story, and submitted it to a local newspaper. And—will wonders never cease—they printed it.

Having noticed my writing ability, my employer moved me from sales into community and media relations, enabling me to write brochures and an occasional news release. Not heavy duty writing, but a marked improvement.

Slowly, over time, I regained confidence in my writing ability. And just as important my passion now had an outlet.

Subsequent jobs have also required writing, some extensively and some not so much. Now, of course, I have to write sermons and voluntarily maintain this blog.

What’s my point? If you have a passion and the ability to do something then pursue it, no matter what others might say or think.

While it’s true I received formal training in writing, and while it can be argued that my passion comes from within, ultimately I believe it all comes from God. That is, the Lord has given me both the ability to write and the passion to write.

And because of that I want to do it as often as I can and as well as I can.

“…Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”1

So what makes your heart skip a beat? What are you just itching to do but haven’t pulled the trigger on yet?

Whatever it is, go for it. Don’t let naysayers hold you back and don’t let time get away from you. If you have the ability and the passion what are you waiting for?

Go for it. Soon.

And whatever it is, “do it all for the glory of God.”

1  1 Cor 10:31