Coffee Sips and Lovely Links (Vol. 3)- The Calling Edition

Have you ever been so passionate about something that it made you gladly hop out of bed early in the morning just so you could keep at it? Have you ever had a job that you missed when you weren't doing it? Or that you couldn't keep off of your mind?

For me, that's blogging. There are times when I wake up far before my alarm and I immediately think "Well, I could get up, have coffee, and work on bloggy-things". I almost also see if I can go back to bed first, because I never really feel rested as it is, but the point is, when I could be thinking "I don't want to get up for any reason whatsoever, instead I find myself thinking about the blog (and coffee, of course).

I'm thrilled to have something like this in my life. Even though it isn't my full-time gig, it still brings me great joy and I am thankful for it. I feel like I am able to make a difference, encourage others, and grow personally as well. And my hope is that this will be my life-long calling, but regardless, I'm glad God has me here now.

Calling is important. If we aren't living by our calling, things just won't be as deeply rewarding. But the more we live for God and the calling He has on our lives, the more satisfied we will be in our soul. That doesn't mean things will be easy, but it does mean that God will be working through us and that we will be where we were created to be.

But do you wanna know something awesome about God? While He does want us to always seek Him, and try to live in step with Him, God doesn't expect us to figure out everything on our own.

Sometimes, we will have a hard time discerning what God is calling us to do. And as hard as this is for me to grasp, that is okay. God guides our paths and takes us where we need to be. We cannot mess up His plans, even when we slip or stumble. Again, God wants us to live by His will and stay in step with Him, but we don't have to put so much pressure on ourselves if we are unsure about what's next. This is a concept that I have a really hard time with, but I do think it's true.

But for those of you who struggle to find your calling, or know your calling but are still searching for that next step, I have put together a few links to help you on your journey. I found them to be incredibly encouraging, and I hope you will too!

The inspiration for the theme of this post came from Dale Partridge of Startup Camp. His recent blog post on how to distinguish between passion from calling is simply excellent. I highly recommend reading it!

This article by Molly about reaching your full potential also offers some great tips for reaching your dreams!

John Piper talks about what you need to do in order to begin discerning your calling here.


I hope you have found these links to be abundantly encouraging, and I hope you all have a great weekend!