Ok, so this is going to be a weird one. My husband was telling me about this department in his company that is in charge of moving stuff around. Here's the idea- his company is always moving, closing, opening and merging smaller branches of offices all over the city and suburbs. So there is an entire department that solely exists to keep track of all of their furniture- desks, chairs, lamps, etc- move them to and from their warehouse, make sure that everything gets to the right place at the right time and make sure that each office has what it needs. They have crews of guys that do the actual, physical moving of the office equipment.
Even weirder, this job sounds fascinating to me. I love minutiae. (sp?) I love making sure I have enough of everything and thinking ahead, prioritizing, planning. Which is hilarious, because I am the most disorganized person ever. But as I thought about it some more, I realized that it would really only be fun for maybe a month. And then I would start having these nagging questions in the back of my mind- Does what I do matter? Am I contributing anything remotely valuable to the world?
I already have these questions about teaching school, which is supposed to be the most fulfilling job in the world. So I don't think I would come up with any more fulfilling feelings from making sure that there are enough desks in the Main Street office.
Holls, what you do, in and of itself, may not matter in the grand scheme of things. However, you're a teacher! Teachers have a unique position to reach out to kids and influence them. You may not see the fruit now (or ever), but in good faith a teacher has to keep on keeping on. I would say that of all professions a teacher probably has one of the most thankless positions, yet most important.
ReplyDeleteI know that may not seem terribly encouraging, but if all you see is the drudgery of daily ins and outs it can get pretty discouraging.
Jen- I appreciate your encouragement. It is so frustrating to just see a roomful of unmotivated, misbehaving teenagers day in and day out. When I sarted teaching I remember the principal told the new teachers this:
ReplyDeleteTeachers have to be tree people, not flower people. Flowers grow quickly and show their growth. If you expect that in kids, you will be disappointed. Trees seem to stay the same, but after years you can see that they have grown and changed. Teachers have to be lovers of trees. I thought it was poetic at the time and I am realizing more and more just how true it is.
I love the tree/flower insight. Hang in there! God has a plan for your work, and he is certainly going to continue working through you for the rest of your life, whether you're teaching, changing diapers, being an acquisitions editor, or skydiving. I'm sure you can identify fruit in yourself that has come about through your job. . .and in terms of fruit in others, well, that's where faith comes in. =) But that's what's so great about a sovereign God--he gives us work that sometimes feels menial, but He is the one who gives capital-M Meaning to it all.
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