My Experience
I found this assignment very eye opening on how I should evaluate and understand what exactly my vocations are. When talking to Mark I came to understand that having vocations is the driving force behind having a productive life. Trying to live your vocations to the fullest will push you to be a better person, if you choose the vocations in your life that have good intensions. Mark explained to me that often in life your vocations will change and that a plan that you though God had for you changes directions and you are sent into a whole different direction, like in Mark’s case where he went from being a sports announcer to being a pastor. Mark also explained that in order to achieve what you truly feel your calling is you must listen to yourself, and take others opinions into consideration. Mark’s father had questioned his choice to pursue to become a pastor, but if he would have decided to listen to his father he would have never touched the lives that he has had the experience of doing in his current job as a pastor in Hebron and Chester. Through the interview process Mark explained that once I have figured out what I have been called to do, there will be times that I will come to doubt my your decision or become frustrated with what comes along with the path that you have chosen. Mark explained that this will come by nature because we as humans are always looking for the next big thing and we never feel truly satisfied. Thinking about this I easily was able to imagine where he was coming from with this statement; in any area of life, if we do the same thing day after day we will more than likely to become board, no matter how excited or happy we originally were when we first started whatever the situation may be. He also explained that in order to overcome these troubling time, we must first pray to God to ask him give us security in the path that he has shown us and to please help us to find the happiness that we had come to find originally taking up the vocation and second turn to others who have been put into our lives to help us along our path, like pastor Kelo had done many times for Mark when he decided to pursue becoming a pastor.
By completing this interviewing process and assign I have accomplished several things. One, I was able to sit down and get an outside perspective on how someone else has been called by God to pursue their lives’ vocations and how they personally reacted to these calls and the good’s and bad that came along with the choices. Second, I was able to evaluate my vocations and how I am choosing to live them out by comparing them to Mark’s situation. Finally, I have come to understand that vocations are always changing and that the key to living a good life is to follow what you believe in and to put all of your effort into what you feel you have been called to do.
All in all, this was a very educational, eye opening, and faith strengthening experience and I was able to learn a lot from just sitting down and talking to Mark about his life experiences and how his vocations have shaped his life.