Help Wanted by Kara Liggett

December 4

Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as though for the Lord and not for men!”

When we decide what we want to be, the world comes to us...

I feel deja vu when I write about being a whale trainer, my long ago, childhood ambition.  Talking about childhood ambitions changing in the face of our ever fleeting discoveries of the world seems fitting for me, who has changed career paths more than most people change their hairstyles (many times over!).

My whale-training days were interesting since I didn’t spend much time growing up around water; and I could count on one hand how many times I had been to Sea World.  Did I mention that I don’t even like to get my hair wet?!  Can you imagine a whale trainer that tried to do everything from outside the tank? My imagination led me to believe that once I was given a chance to work with these majestically large, seemingly docile animals (ahem...killer whales), that I would become something akin to a modern day Noah- all the animals of the water would submit to my amazing training abilities.  Strange, but true.

As children, we oftentimes like to believe that our career choices, what we “want to be when we grow-up,” will work out in the circumstances around us.  The world will shape itself to fit our abilities and our talents- and sometimes that is very much the case!  My dad is a wonderful leader, speaker, motivator- his ability to do all those things and his love for God’s purpose and God’s people has led him to be a pastor. 

For some people, that have lost jobs or changed career paths several times, our vision can be clouded and our passions can be misconstrued into chasing trivial ambitions.  It’s tough to reroute our dreams and to realize that the world doesn’t always adapt to our present needs.  

While I don’t think that Shamu has anything to worry about soon, I do know one job I am equipped right now to suit up for every day is serving God.  On that note, I need to finish a letter to Sea World to see if they have openings for a “Non-Experienced Non-Marine Biologist Who Likes Whales But Doesn’t Want to Get Wet” employee.