How do we become workaholics? The roots are many but mostly from our early identity formation. My workaholic journey began in my teens. Just before entering high school, my family moved from an urban industrial multiracial working-class city to a laid-back middle class suburban community. The cultural shock knocked my identity off its foundation. To fit in, I unwittingly became a people pleasing overachiever. There are upsides to hard work and high achievements. But my story reveals the toxic side of this trait when it forms our identity. As an insecure adolescent, I just wanted to be accepted but did not understand… Read More
Labor
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Kids need to be loved, but also taught responsibility and respect for others. That’s what I try to teach them on my school bus. I approach it as my classroom but those kids have become my family. It all started a few years ago. I owned and ran a home repair business when my mom was diagnosed with COPD. She needed someone to take her to and from her medical appointments. I had driven trucks before, so I decided to become a school bus driver since it gave me the flexibility I would need. When I started, I saw some of the… Read More
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Ministry is nothing more than being willing to do the work that God calls a believer to do. Sure, you can try to do it in your flesh. But the result will never be what could have been if His hand is not leading. That is why everything I have ever focused on in God’s work had to have His stamp of approval. Whether that was my work as a Pastor or reaching others though providing a food bank and Thanksgiving dinners. As the shepherd of a flock, God ordained my steps to preach the Word and see many come… Read More
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God led me to be part of a ministry I never imagined. Located inside a women’s shelter, Prodigal Pottery teaches women who may have been victims of abuse, addiction or trafficking to make pottery. It’s amazing to see how God put all the pieces of this ministry in place. I majored in fine arts and went to Rwanda for a year to work with women's craft cooperatives and teach art to children orphaned from the genocide. When I came home, I wondered what doors God would open for me. The King’s Home, a faith-based women’s shelter, had been… Read More
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We were making plans. The plans that ambitious teenagers make. The sky was the limit. It was the foundation we stood upon to reach our mega dreams. My brother had recently graduated from high school and I was excited to walk that same corridor to a brighter future. We felt like we deserved hope after enduring many hardships during childhood and adolescence. Then, a typical fun day at home with friends quickly turned into a fatal tragedy. I watched my brother slip away from me right before my eyes. Life seemed pointless. I managed to graduate and enroll at the University… Read More
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I own a body and fabrication shop in a small town in east-central Ohio. I feel blessed to be able to do what I love every day. But even more exciting than creating cool things out of metal and bringing old rust buckets back to life is the opportunity to share my faith with anyone who stops by. From the day I opened the shop, I let it be known my door is always open. While I can’t hire any full-time employees, I enjoy giving young people a chance to work for a day every so often. I’m able to… Read More