June 4 marks the day of my first job monthiversary! Aww.. How time flies.. Transition from school life to work life is not that easy. It is like transferring from an old home to a new one. You sometimes tend to think of your old home, your old neighbors, your old friends, and other old stuffs. But after a week or two, you will soon learn to love and appreciate your job. Here is a list of values that I’ve learned and realized on my first month of my work life.

1. Punctuality

Punctuality is not just being early for work and have no lates and yadda yadda, it also being on-time in all aspects of work. If you’re passing a requirement or a task, you must not wait for the last day before submission and cram for the rest of the day. If you make it a habit of doing things on time, there will be a lot of benefits that will make your life elated and merry.

a. You can impress your boss! Wow! I smell a promotion and an increase! Yay!

b. You can have a spare time for doing others things. Well, if you’re done with all of your task, then well and good! You can do the task for the next day, or the next day, or the next day………………. Oh, are we done yet? No?… and the next day, or the next day, or the next day UNTIL YOU RESIGN! haha! Oh.

Going back, you will have time to relax. Our elders often say that people who are always cramming are the ones who die early. Oh no. Well, it is just a saying, (Hey, is there a study that proves this myth?) Oh well, whether true or not, better to do things ahead of time.

c. It will improve the whole “[INSERT YOUR NAME HERE] Package”! People can rely on you when it comes to being early! As my mother always say, “Don’t let the time wait for you, it is better if you are the one waiting for the time.” (Hi Mom!)

2.Teamwork

Teamwork. You! Go to this side, and you, you block #3! Use your strength! Don’t let the ball get off your hands! And you, pass the ball to #5 and in return, he will make a 3 point shot! Understood? GO TEAM!………. Yeah, think of your job as a basketball game, you can’t just play basketball alone, unless you are practicing your shooting. Teamwork is essential to any job. There are those hardy people where they do things their own way. They tend to go against the flow. They won’t cooperate with the team. Oh! There! I said it, the “cooperate” word. Do I need to say more?

3. Independence

Even though you have the “team player spirit”, you must learn to be independent in a way. Why? Of course, who wants subordinates that always ask questions, asking permissions to go to the C.R., and other annoying stuffs. To clarify thins, there is nothing wrong in asking, in fact, it is in asking where you are learning. My point in independence is that when you already know the SOPs, do things on your own. But don’t hesitate to ask if you are not sure about your job.

4. Communication

Communication is always essential in every aspect of life. If you have a misunderstanding, you can communicate with the other party for reconciliation. Good times… good times! 

5. Being Organized

One of the principles of the Japanese regarding work that I really admire is the 5s(If you are not familiar with these things, try and say hello to google!). One of the 5s is the Seiton. It means to set in order or to put everything into its proper place. It reminds us that we must be organized in every aspect of work. Simple! Whenever you need to find something, you know where to start. And the basic rule is that IF YOU USED SOMETHING, YOU MUST RETURN IT BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL PLACE.

6. Value of Time

Time is gold. Yeah yeah right. We all know that time is gold. To those who still don’t get this saying, here’s my interpretation of the quote:

“In order to buy something, we need gold. But we can’t have gold if we dont have the time to work for one. So we need  time to have gold.” Even if you have the title for “the most industrious man alive”, without proper time management ability, your title is useless.

7. Confidence

You can’t pass any job interviews without this trait. You must learn how to talk to people confidently. But too much of this can harm your relationship with other. As the Spice Girls’ song goes, “Too much of something is bad enough.”

Well, i guess that’s all for now. How about you, what are the ideas and values you realized when you started working?

What about the children out there that cannot get what my kids have? What about the children in lower income families that can’t afford to put money away for college? What about the children that don’t have supportive parents and grandparents that will help them to achieve their goals in life?

I never really thought about this until recently. My Toastmaster mentor and I were talking one day and he told me about this volunteer program called PAYBAC. This stands for Professionals and Youth Building a Commitment. The purpose of this program is to motivate the youth to stay in school. They will hopefully continue their education and achieve meaningful employment and enjoy a productive life.

So what does this mean to me? I am self-centered and to me it meant that I would get to talk and give all my great knowledge to these kids who need help. I can do something good and it benefits me as well because I get to practice my speaking skills. I get to prove how great I am. I have a bit of an ego. I told you I am self-centered.

I went to my first endeavor on January 29th to a middle school and I was ready. I went to sign in and talked to some other volunteers who were also going to speak. I ate the breakfast that they served. I drank some apple juice and then got escorted to one of the classrooms. I walked in and I felt pretty confident. The kids were all working on individual projects. The substitute teacher thought I was just there to observe. I told him I was supposed to speak. He yelled for the kids to put their work away and to pay attention and listen to me. He kept reminding them to behave. I never saw them misbehave but maybe I am not there enough to see it. They were very quiet and listened to me.

So I talked to them about my education and how important it is to continue their education and the benefits of getting a better education and their futures. I tried to focus on the kids that really seemed to be listening. I also tried to bring in the kids that seemed like they didn’t want to be there. I used specific examples, they asked questions and I answered and I made it through. I did it! I made the difference. After that speech, all those kids were going to finish high school and go to college. I was so proud.

I signed up for 4 more of these speeches and I was going to make the difference in everyone’s life for I am the queen of speaking to kids. I am about he same size as them and I fit right in. Why wouldn’t they listen to me?

My second endeavor was on February 26th in another school where I also spoke to middle school children. I went in, ate the breakfast (which was even better), drank their apple juice and was escorted again to a classroom. (Apparently I like apple juice). This time the teacher was waiting for me. It was an all female class and a male teacher. I started speaking to them about education and their future just as I did before and I spoke for about 15 minutes. I had their attention and I was so afraid that I would lose them I stopped and asked if there were any questions. When no one answered I put my coat on and the teacher said “Is that all you are going to speak for? 15 minutes?” I said “I am not sure what else to say.” So I asked the girls what they were working on. “Volcanoes and Rocks” they told me. I’m an Accountant – where was I going to go with that?

I asked them what subjects they liked. I heard Science, English and History. I had their attention again so I took off my jacket and stayed awhile longer. I told them about different careers they could have with those subjects. Chemist, Biologist, Journalist, Archeologist. I also spoke about math because that was my favorite subject. I told them that they need balance in their lives. I balance my Accounting career with drawing, painting, cooking, singing, dancing and other creative outlets. I spoke to them about having emotional balance since they are all female and will have emotional turmoil because of it. Women’s brains are doing 10 different things at once so balance of family and career and other environmental issues is very important.

At that point, I asked if there were any more questions. One girl asked me if I sang well. I told her I could hold my own so they asked me to sing for them. So I did and I was nervous. These are just kids, why was I nervous? I wanted them to like me and listen. I wanted to sing something they liked. They gave me songs but I didn’t know them so I sang Maroon 5 Wake Up Call. They liked it. Then they sang for me. At that point, something had changed. This wasn’t about me at all. This was about them. I wanted them to succeed and learn. I connected with them. I WAS “THEM” in my youth. I may have had money and support but I was also naïve and oblivious to the world outside of mine. I wanted these girls to go on and live prosperous lives, each and every one of them because they are each special. Each one became an individual that could do something great. They became people and they became my heroes. They are the future of my world and my children’s worlds.

After a few more questions, one girl raised her hand and said “What do you do if you are having problems at home and problems at school?” I realized then that I was giving them hope. I was the adult showing them how they can succeed. I told her to do the best she could with what she had and to keep pushing forward and doing what was good for her and what was going to make her happy. I told her that she will turn 18 and get to make her choices and to hold in there and things will get better. I told them all to make good choices or at least the best choices they could. My heart was breaking and my soul was filled with love and compassion.

When I walked out the door, the teacher asked me where I worked. He told me he wanted to call my boss and tell him what I great job I did. He also said he would ask for me specifically the next time they had a PAYBAC speaker. I told him, thanked him and left to go fill out my survey and go back to work. As I was driving to the office I realized that whether he called or not didn’t matter. I felt good from my head down to my toes.

My thoughts were changing and my insights were getting better.

It is about them. The children. Our future. Pass it on and PAYBAC.

In the beginning, the rote-ness of the Word, memorizing scriptures, writing in a journal, studying to show yourself a workman, able to discern good from evil… all are part of renewing your mind.

This is the beginning, and this continues on and on as you grow more and more mature in God, in His Love, in His Will for your life, in His joy unspeakable and full of glory, in His peace that passes, always, and in all ways, all of our understanding; peace that guards our hearts and keeps our minds protected.

Yes, this is the beginning.

You learn to apply whatever scriptures you need for your life and for others. You learn and grow in prayer, from Daddy please, to help, to help others, to specific petitions and supplications for others, to intercession. I am sure one of the key scriptures for spiritual growth, for maturing in Christ is 2 Cor. 10:5b “…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Yes the battle we fight the most in within our own minds, and it is the subtlest of battles, one we don’t easily recognize, nor do we want to.

We would like to blame everything on “him” the enemy of our soul, and while “he” is involved, the real enemy is our own mind, our own habits, our own wounds, and our own pain. And in new life in Jesus Christ, the struggle is mighty, as we try to “live” our new life in Christ. Daily we learn to live, move and have our being in Him, daily we struggle with what we see with our eyes, what we feel with our sense of touch or our emotions, what we understand or judge to be with our mind. You see we are the treasures in earthen vessels. We struggle with our un-renewed mind and unhealed soul.

It takes time to learn to rest in Him…

… and to allow Him to show us the reality of sin in our members. We want so much to be “sinless” and in Him, as a spirit child of God we are, however we are still in these earthen bodies, and we still have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. If you were to research what this salvation is you would find that it points to our souls (intellect/mind, emotions/feelings, will/choice) that needs to be saved.

For our struggle even in these bodies, is not really against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places. Things you cannot see, at least you don’t necessarily recognize what or who they are when you see them. In fact, based on your family traditions, and genetic inheritance, you may recognize these enemies in a particular fashion – usually superstitious. These superstitions are deceptions of our heart. We can blame “them” unknowingly and in complete ignorance of who or what “them” really are.

Don’t be discouraged. Jesus has provided for all of our needs abundantly above what we could ask or pray for, especially dealing with the deceptions of our hearts. Keys here are asking and praying beyond what tradition has taught us or kept us in.

The scripture says, the heart is wicked above all things. (Jeremiah 17:9)

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Well we know who knows our heart and who has created new life for us, and a new heart – God our heavenly Father. The heart became wicked, not created that way, but in what sin worked through based on the original Adam/male-female’s choice to do what God said not to do.

You see a heart without the life of God in it, is wicked above all things. This heart is the basis for all wickedness, all self-absorption, self-delusion. Sin is not “performed”, sin IS:

• Alive, as in a body – as in the body of sin
• A law – the law of sin and death.

When you choose to do sin, death is birthed in you in some fashion, usually unperceived or mis-perceived by a person. Oh, we’ve seen the fruits down through the ages, and scripture again says you will “know a tree by its fruit.” Hatreds, killings, wars, lusts, total repulsive actions and activities; over and over and over again, down through mankind’s history worldwide.

We somehow like to think of these things as “their” problems – pointing to others and denying and ignoring the very presence of sin’s fruits within ourselves. I believe that is why God left the new life in the earthen vessels. An in-house training source that would be with us all until we go onto the next life or the Lord returns and the new heaven and new earth begin. By in-house training source, I am speaking to the very teacher we have within our flesh (earthen vessel), and that is sin. Sin a teacher? What? Well read on.

What the enemy meant for evil, meant to be the end of us

God knew and did, has and will continue to turn it to good, for our eternal beings. Sin is a tool we learn by, a given for every human being.

Something that no matter how “good” you behave, you will be humbled by, as in the “thorn” in your flesh, that very very vulnerableness to sin that expresses itself in some fashion, some form in our lives.

Years of denial of this simple truth have brought us on this earth, especially in “civilized” countries to the point of incredible denial and addictive behavior. Behavior, that has as its basis, denial of the truth. Behavior, that try as we might, we cannot seem to stop or get rid of. This behavior has been repeated in all cultures, in all civilizations, in all peoples in all places on this earth – from the very beginning to now, denial has shown forth addictive, destructive to self and to others, behavior.

However, since God has never left us or forsaken us, indeed, since God created us in His image, and knew everything that would happen, I take great hope in knowing that He has a plan and purpose above and beyond the scenario described above of sin. This is real for me, in my new life, through Jesus Christ. I also recognize that He is not finished working in me to will and do the life He has ordained, which he calls His good Pleasure.

Some people think this phrase “. . . to will and do of His good pleasure” deals solely with our behavior; like we are just “puppets” of a controlling god. Or at least that “thought” hides way in the back of the mind, trying and succeeding in some circumstances to “deceive” our minds and emotions into believing “all is lost” or “why bother” or “I”ve failed’ or “I”m suffering for Jesus’. Nope! It is God who works in us, how? Good question.

Jesus paid, as in it is done, the whole price for our salvation, and while we go through trials and tribulations here, it is part of our training to choose life, and not the “beat down” that the enemy tries to present it as. God works through our junk and yuckies turning what was meant to be binding, enslaving, bondage chains to slavery; God turns it all to good, Good, GOOD.

God created us in His image, and that means we are creators of sorts, and it also means we have “free choice.”

Whatsoever we choose, that is what is – whether it is life or whether it is death. Choice is what this life and the new life promised us in Christ is all about. And God has made it as simple as 1,2,3. Choose life and step into the dynamic of eternity with Him. Or choose death, and step into the void of missing the mark, and living deadness, slowly decaying back into the earth.

After beginning our new life, next step is to renew the mind that was created for greatness in and of God Our Heavenly Father! Let the renewing begin.