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When I was in 8th grade my dad came home one evening, came up to my room, sat on the edge of my bed and told me we were going to move. I was devastated. I cried, bargained and threw out a heavy dose of guilt, all designed to get my dad to change his mind. He didn’t. Ultimately when I realized it was of no use trying to change his mind I asked where we were moving. If we were going to move, the situation could be salvaged if we were going to California, Hawaii or somewhere I considered fun. But that too proved to be a real downer. We were moving from Ohio to Michigan. For an Ohio State football fan, I felt like I was being exiled from everything that meant anything to me in my life. Football, friends and fun.
In announcing our move, I recall my dad using a word I’d never heard before. He said he felt “called” to do this. I was not exactly sure what he was talking about. I figured it was something religious. I didn’t know, and to be honest with you, I didn’t care. All I knew was that my 8th grade world had been turned upside down by this “calling”.
Over time, not only did our move turn out to be a good thing for me, but I came to find out that my parents made a lot of decisions based on this notion of calling. Apparently, they regularly engaged in a prayerful attempt to be responsive to God’s will for their lives. I remember them trying to explain their beliefs and the living out of their faith. Though it didn’t make a lot of sense to me when I was 14, in the years since, I’ve come to appreciate, respect and admire such an approach to life. That same approach seems to have been at the center of Genesis Chapter 12 “Now the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you… so Abraham went”. Like my parents, Abraham seems to have felt compelled (called) to uproot his family, leaving the comforts of his former life, all in an effort to be responsive to God’s purposes for his life.
What I’ve come to find out over the years is that calling isn’t just for Bible characters (Abraham) and parents (mine) who feel called by God. In fact, I’ve heard people use the word to choose majors, spouses and careers. I’ve heard of teachers who feel called to work in schools and administrators who feel called to use their gifts to run those schools. I’ve heard students talk about feeling called to particular colleges. I’ve heard of people feeling called to go on mission trips while others feel called to use their money to support the one’s going on those trips. In fact, ever since my dad first attributed the reason for our move to the idea of a “call” my ears have always perked up when I’ve heard people cite this sense of calling in their lives.
But I suppose what intrigues me most about this idea of calling is the idea that in order for any of this to be possible, the called have to be willing to listen to a caller. And that, it seems, is what Abraham, my parents and so many others have apparently been willing to do; to take time out of their day to consider what it is that God, the caller, wants them to do. I’ve learned that such callings have the capacity to impact our lives in significant and meaningful ways. And so, I invite you to join me in this time honored and faithful tradition of prayerfully reaching out to the caller as together we seek his calling upon our lives.
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