Career Chopsuey

Today I was blessed in my devotion time as I'm meditating through the book of Acts. I read today about Paul and Silas making attempts to go places and God closing the door on them, finally directing them to Macedonia. And even then it wasn't easy to stay there where God had called them.

I take this time to write about my past as well as my present. I compare it to making chopsuey, or mixed vegetables cooked Chinese-style, since my growing up years were filled with variety as far as my dreams and ambitions. As I'm sitting here in the office with some time to do personal stuff, I look back in my childhood and see how far God has been controlling my life.

Let's start cooking.

Ingredients:

• Always keep God first
• Work as if God is your boss
• Know that people are observing you
• Never give up
• You may make a lot of wrong choices and attempts trying to get to the right path

1. As a child, I was a dreamer. My estimate of my temperament is Melancholic-Choleric or simply, Mel-Chol. I'm a very analytical, emotional, and passionate person that doesn't give up easily, most of the time. As a boy, I would always look up to my dad who was working as the head of human resources in a government university. I dreamed of becoming an executive, just like him. So my earliest childhood dream was that of becoming a professional in a management position.

2. As the years went by I had the desire to become a doctor. This was something that stuck for a while. But as time passed, I realized that I didn't want someone else's life in my hands -- a thought I now find useless as I'm all grown up and 26 years old.

3. Later on, I wanted to become a veterinarian. But as time passed, I realized that I didn't want an animal's life in my hands -- a thought I now find useless as I'm all grown up and 26 years old.

4. Longest career ambition: RJ, Attorney-at-law. This really stuck for about 6 years. All the way through my finishing high school my mind was set on becoming a lawyer. I even passed for a double major course, one of the majors was Political Science, a possible prerequisite for going to law school. So lawyerland, here I come. But not quite.

5. 1997 - A very short time left. Some weeks before the school year starts. I decided to let my mom help. She wait-listed me for a program called Computer Science, and that's when my blood began to stir in me. You see, I have been programming since I was twelve. Back then, we used Turbo Basic. That was my first break in programming code and actually letting the computer automate tasks. Finishing high school, I got a very high grade in my computer class, when we were using Turbo Pascal. So for four years I had been a geek in high school. And now it was time to take that path.

6. Starting my first year in college was a new environment for me. I found new friends, as well as old ones. It was to me, a new life. But I was wrong. A week before the finals towards the end of the school year I had the deepest depression I ever experienced. My whole world was coming apart. I had been depressed since early childhood, was diagnosed with it in 6th grade, and have been on and off medication until I was 17. But that pit of depression was my turning point. It was the time I received Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. At 17, I was born again. That was the time God completely healed me, and not just mentally and biologically, but spiritually. Now the new life truly started.

7. I became a Pentecostal shortly after my conversion to Christ, and the rest of my college years were a journey in my early walk with the Lord. I graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas. This was the time I contemplated full-time ministry, aiming for a Bible school degree right after college. But I decided not to pursue it at that time. After that, I rested for three months, and finally decided to get a job since I was so bored. I worked my first job in the same university I graduated from. I became involved in a campus-wide computer networking project, and my job was to complete the inventory of all the computers in the immediate area.

8. My first job didn't last long. My contract was non-renewable. I decided to work for my dad after that, doing work in his law office. Pretty soon I started working in church as church staff. I was full time for three days. But my dad needed help in his office and wanted me to learn secular work skills so I decided to work part-time church staff and part-time legal office assistant. This lasted for about 5 months. This was the season I contemplated full-time ministry again.

9. There was an opportunity that came up for further studies in Computer Science. So I decided to enroll in a diploma course. I eventually pursued full-time studies. In the midst of that, I found out that I didn't need the diploma, and that I could request to be transferred to a master's course in Information Systems. So I filed a request and by God's provision, I was transferred to the master's degree the following semester. So I was a master's degree student and it took me more than three years to finish it. It was difficult, but God sustained me through it all. It was in this season that I became part of the Calvary Chapel movement. Leaving the pentecostal movement, God planted me in a Calvary Chapel church.

10. For about three years, God led me through my spiritual desert. This was a time that I had opportunity to grow spiritually through the Word of God, prayer, fellowship, ministry, and discipleship. I'm grateful that Pastor Mike Ramsey took time to disciple young men like me and train them up in the ministry. So I was studying to become a master in my field and at the same time, I was in the school of the Holy Spirit, as God was growing me in my walk with the Lord. For me, this was even better than going to Bible school. I became a youth leader and a musician. Right now I'm a worship leader.

11. One big question in career planning is geography. I was at a crossroads of whether I wanted to pursue my career outside of my home city or within. I decided to pursue it within. God was calling me to build his house first before I build my own. I decided to stay in Iloilo and support my new pastor who was also discipled by Pastor Mike, and to minister to God's people at the same time I'm pursuing my career. God blessed me by giving me a job as a computer programmer, in an office next door to the church! So I don't have to travel far to get to my church from my office or vice-versa.

In conclusion, things don't always turn out the way we want, but at hindsight, we can see God's hand in it all. Not that I have already attained or already been made perfect -- I'm still learning. And there are still many decisions to make along the way of my career path. But God has called me to be both a geek and a musician. And there's no better way than to be yourself and be in the center of God's will.

What about all those other ambitions I had? Well, perhaps they'll come in handy. The information technology industry is a vicious place. And to survive, I need to be strong in the Lord, and equipped. There are things I could still need along the way:

• The courage of a doctor
• The mental discipline of a lawyer
• The heart and compassion of a pastor
• The will of an executive
  

God never wastes our experiences. All things work together for good, and God is working even in the midst of faulty assumptions, poor decisions, and foolish mistakes. All we have to do is trust God to lead and guide. Jesus is always faithful.