Called to Serve

When I was just out of college, my first job was working at a psychiatric hospital as a healthcare technician, helping children and adolescents. In school, I had taken an interests inventory, and my two highest scoring areas were counseling and pastoral ministry. God seemed to be calling me, but I wasn’t sure in what direction. As I prayed for guidance, the words of Isaiah 6:8 came to mind: “Here am I. Send me!”

My experience at the hospital helped me decide to attend graduate school and pursue a career in counseling. I felt God calling me to support young people and their families, to bring them encouragement and hope. God had sent important people to me in my young life when I needed help, and I felt it was time to pay that forward.

Now that I am retired, I give thanks to God for my career in counseling as well as the experiences my family and I have had serving in church over the years. My wife and I are blessed to serve as lay people in our congregation. Sometimes I wonder how my life might have been different if I had become a pastor. However, I believe as Christians we’re able to minister to others, even if we’re not ordained pastors in a church. God has a plan for each one of us!