New Job = Green Eggs and Ham

Ok, so you left the ministry and it was traumatic and hard. Now you've got a new job and you start tomorrow and you're scared to death. It's been ages since you've had a normal 9-5 workplace job and you're pretty sure you have NO IDEA what you're doing. Why on earth did these crazy people hire me anyway? How long will it be before my hypocrisy is exposed and they realize I don't know what's going on? Panic. Hyper-ventilation. Fear.

Stop. Remember Josh 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Be strong and courageous. Those are manly words. Just hearing them makes me feel like chopping wood in a red and black checkered flannel jacket on a brisk autumn morning somewhere in Northern Idaho at a cabin by a lake at 5 in the morning. Be strong and courageous. Be a man. Be a manly man.

Only fools don't feel a little overwhelmed when they take on a new job. It's scary because it's unfamiliar. What will the work be like? Will I hate my boss? Will my coworkers like me? Are they going to be negligent leaving me stuck to do all the work? What if I can't learn whatever it is they want me to do? How long will they give me before they fire me?

You should be asking questions like these when you start a new job. However, you should not be afraid of things just because they're unfamiliar.

Remember the Dr Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham? The man in the story refuses to eat green eggs and ham. He's just as sure as he can be that he doesn't like green eggs and ham. And yet, he's never even tried them. 

Children are like this with food, aren't they? That's why Dr Seuss wrote this book after all. The whole point is: how do you know whether you like it or not if you never try it?

My kids are often quite sure they don't like their dinner before they've had a single bite. Every kid pulls that sometimes. And ooooooohhh...it always drives their parents bonkers. Would you just TRY IT already?

So will you approach your new job like a child? Will you purse your lips together as tightly as you can, turn your head away and say, "NO!"

Or will you try that green eggs and ham?