I just have two weeks left before I leave my job, which is only my third job since I graduated from college eons ago. After my 21-year career with Campus Crusade, I had a clothing retail position for nine months and then this administrative desk job for more than seven years. There has been absolutely nothing about my job description that’s been fulfilling, rewarding, or compelling. I print transcripts. All day long. It’s been mundane and, frankly, boring. And yet I think of it as God’s gift to me.

Working at Golden Gate Seminary has provided an open door for me to build relationships and be able to mentor, officially and unofficially, many wonderful students, many of whom come to prepare for the mission field. During the early years after returning to the States from Eastern Europe, when I especially struggled with reverse culture stress, I found many like-minded people where I work who helped me survive. If I had been in a high-stress career, I doubt I ever would’ve found time to write a book. That’s been a huge blessing about this job.

But that’s not all. I’ve had an opportunity to do my mundane work excellently, to try to please God in how I perform it. It’s not the work itself that matters; it’s my attitude. My life with Campus Crusade was large and exciting. I was able to help people make life decisions about their relationship with Christ and regularly see God do the impossible. Now I’ve had a chance to step back into a small life and see if God will still shine through me when there’s no audience and no accolades. Have I been kind and helpful to people? Have I practiced integrity and faithfulness? Have I reflected the image of God in who I am and how I do whatever it is that He’s given me to do? These are the questions that count.