“Resume Builder”

[Originally written in 2015 during the peak of my success working for this agency who I have focused my energy for seventeen solid years. In 2019, my heart and my eyes were open to the truth that our life are never measured in the stuff we believe that quantify success. Thus, sharing the original manuscript below as I believe still stands true today…]

…Lately I have been challenged in the office taking up more work than ever. Right before Thanksgiving, I found out that the only two people in our accounting department are leaving, one transferring and one retiring. To give you guys a background, I started in the accounting department before I got promoted to management in 2006.

During my four years in the department, senior management used to request a lot of research work for different projects. For those who do not know me very well, research is my forte, next to project management. I have this principle that when people request me to do something outside my job scope, I would simply take it on and tell myself that it is beneficial to take the challenge ~ a “good addition to my resume” is what I always put in mind. You never know when someone will read those experiences.

Over the years, that has been my attitude when I get asked to do something beyond my role. In fact, this is what I normally teach people as part of my mentoring. I encourage people to always learn other things so they can grow professionally. My lecture always ends with this affirmative phrase “these are the things that you can add to your resume to make you more bankable for future promotions or other future prospective jobs.”

Next week, I am taking on two additional positions while waiting for replacements. Then, training them is another different ball game. While driving this morning, I began thinking the same phrase ~ a “good addition to my resume.” But this time I paused for a long time on that statement. I realized that I am now a different person with a diverse perspective and priorities. Then, questions poured in my thoughts. Why am I building my resume? For whom am I building it for? I know I already have a lot to offer in any job field and yet it seems that there is still a need to add more to it. What is the need for?

I was so focus on building my resume over the years that I have forgotten that the only resume that is profoundly important to build is for the Kingdom of God. For many of us, we spent half of our lives building something in this world. Others probably spent more than half of theirs filling their worldly resume to the brim of achievement, achievements that we cannot even take with us when our time is up. We are so glued to accomplishing tangible things in life that often, we have forgotten to build our resume in the spiritual realm.

When you stop for a moment and write two separate resumes, how does your spiritual resume look like compared to your professional one? What does it say in the Experience category? What about your Skills category? What have you learned or acquired to improve to deserve God’s glory? What about Affiliations? Where have you spent your time fulfilling God’s work? Obviously, we cannot write any References since His beloved son Jesus is the only witness to how we conducted ourselves during our entire life in this world. You see, whether our resume is short or long, in the eyes and in the heart of our Abba Father, what matters most is that whatever we do, we do it to glorify Him.

Hence, this New Year let us take on the challenge to help others discern God’s teachings, to be present to the lives of the vulnerable, and be a part of an outreach community. Let us not forget a simple act of kindness goes a long away. And when we get sloppy, we just need to remind ourselves ~ this is a good addition to our spiritual resume. You will never know when the day will come that we get examined by our Almighty Father.

May this New Year inspire us to bring positive changes to the lives of many….

Have a Blessed New Year!

©fm1_12.31.2015