Calling vs Career

[00:00:00] Good morning, afternoon, evening, and welcome everyone to the Kingdom at Work webinar. I’m Brooklyn Douthit, and I’m the engagement coordinator for Kingdom at Work, where our mission is to inspire, ignite, and equip leaders to find their why. I’m so excited that today our Kingdom at Work manager, Amanda Bolin, is going to be here to speak with you guys today.

A little bit about Amanda. Throughout her career, she has worked in various sectors, including teaching, coaching, restaurant management, personal training, corporate operations, and ministry. Amanda has a passion for developing teams with accountability and promoting a kingdom perspective in all areas of life.

Amanda holds a degree in communications and health from the University of New Mexico and a master’s degree in education and leadership coaching from North Central University. She is also a certified Gallup strengths coach and personal trainer. Through her work, Amanda strives to empower others to reach their full potential and develop their leadership skills in marketplace ministry.

She has been married to Matt since [00:01:00] 2004 and a proud mother to Kate and Daley. Please welcome Amanda Bullen. Hi, and welcome to our webinar. Um, we are recording this for you instead of it being live. Thank you for having grace for our team, um, our leader and our founder, Rick Beaton bow. Um, he passed away on Friday.

And so we are going to get to honor him when our webinar was supposed to be. So this is going to be recorded and coming to you. Um, next month we will have it live as well, but I am so honored that, um, Gina Roach, our new CEO, asked if I would speak on calling first career. Um, this is a topic that I am deeply passionate about.

Uh, as you heard, um, kind of in my funny resume, I am like to say that I’m the Swiss army knife when it comes to the workplace because God has had me in so [00:02:00] many various sectors doing lots of different things. And, you know, I was a teacher. I was a head basketball head track coach. Um, I was in the restaurant industry.

I was a GM for a large franchise restaurant. And then God moved me into a regional position, um, over several of those restaurants in the West Texas area. Um, which I will tell you if you’ve ever worked in the food industry, you know that that is fast paced that it keeps you on your toes. And I always say two jobs that every person should have to do in their life is waiting tables and refereeing.

Those two things will definitely equip you on how to deal with people. After that, I moved into the corporate world and was a director of operations for another organization. And God has just really been good in every season. And, um, it’s funny because my husband and I celebrate 20 years this year. We have a son that’s a senior, a [00:03:00] daughter, that’s a junior.

And I hear it constantly asked of my son, who’s a senior, what are you going to do with your life? What’s your career going to be? And it’s just really comical because he’s 18 and the word career is such an interesting word. And so, um, I want to pray as we get started and then we’re going to jump in.

Father, we thank you for this time. I pray over every man and woman that is here, that is listening, that you would speak through them, that these would be your words and not mine. God, I pray that you would give us fresh revelation of the callings of where you have each one of us. I thank you, Lord, that you speak to us in Jesus name.

It’s interesting because career is something that you pick, but a calling is put in you from the Lord. Um, I grew up in the church in the [00:04:00] eighties and nineties, and I can remember so many times people using the phrases I’m called to the mission field. I’m called to children’s ministry, which both are excellent endeavors, but I didn’t hear much or actually anything at all about a calling in the marketplace.

I want to start by clearly like stating what is calling and what is career. So a career is about you and a calling is about others. A career is about pushing your agenda, how much money I make. A career is me focused. A calling is constant, no matter the location, the job, the title, the salary you make. A calling comes from your identity as a child of God.

Nothing’s wrong with having a career. I think it’s something that many of us, um, usually start out [00:05:00] having. And then, um, just kind of as you grow in age. Um, maturity age sometimes doesn’t have to do with it. The Lord begins showing you what your calling is, and it really actually has nothing to do with a career that you’re in.

Um, I see this all the time. Um, especially in my own life, you heard all the different industries that I’ve been in. And it is funny, but it’s also sweet because the constant within all of them has been just a love for people. And I’m so blessed that God has brought me through every season. And really, this life is a journey with him.

As most of you know, whenever I look in the Bible, One person that I see in regards to career versus calling is King Solomon, and he knew the despair of his work just being a career. He had billions of dollars, achieved massive success in the world’s eyes, [00:06:00] namely building one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Yet over and over again in the book of Ecclesiastes, he reflects on his labors. and excels that all is vanity. It’s empty, striving after the wind. And the book of Ecclesiastes, it ends saying it’s all vanity. Your aim should be to know and to love God. And I think that is one of the lies a lot of times that we get even as kingdom leaders is that a career is going to give us fulfillment, a career is going to be the all the end all.

And we look around and we realize my identities in my career and something’s wrong with this. And I will tell you that the starting point of knowing your calling. Is knowing the father when you know the father, then your calling, it becomes more and more [00:07:00] clear. One of my dear friends, um, that works here, um, for beaten bow, Marcus Murphy, he says, humility is knowing the giftings and the callings God has placed on you and living them out.

I love that because when you’re working in your calling. It’s actually a sweet aroma of humility. People who are called are different than those who just have a career. I mean, you think about dentists or coaches or financial planners, there is a distinct difference in people who know they’re calling.

And they’re living it out and those that this is just a career. Um, I shared my eclectic resume with you. Um, but one of the most major shifts in my life happened several years ago when, when I was coaching, um, basketball and track, you know, you start out, most coaches, um, are, are, [00:08:00] um, older athletes, not X, X athletes, but, um, one of.

The things that most coaches have that’s undeniable is we, we hate to lose and not that I don’t love to win, but I just hate to lose and that competitive spirit. And one of the massive mindset changes was when I was teaching and coaching was I started out wanting to win district, regional, state championships.

But the shift happened when the Lord, like, showed me the young people. It was like this opening of my eyes, kind of like a veil had been removed that I hadn’t seen at that point, um, within the career I was in. And it was like God showed me, What and who it was he had put in my hands to steward and I will say that rebounds and shooting percentages and track splits and times they were really important still, but they weren’t the focus anymore.

It actually became who were these young men [00:09:00] and women. Who did God see them as? And I wanted to see him through Jesus’s eyes. And who was their source? And how could I be part of their journey in finding their identity in the Father? How could they see the Father? You see, all of us have been given resources, gifts, and talents to steward.

In 1 Peter 4 10, it says each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others. As faithful stewards of God’s grace and its various forms, you know, it’s one that is so important that we know the father. That’s the first step in knowing your calling. We have to know him. Another way to know if you’re walking in your calling is are you stewarding what God has placed in your hands?

A few years ago, I was working in the corporate world. Um, I had several, um, young men that were newly [00:10:00] married, had, um, just little kids and they were figuring out how to balance being married, work and children. And, um, it was really sweet that I had that role with a lot of these young men. And one particular supervisor that was on my team at the time, he, um, was just really sweet and always vulnerable.

And he would ask me if I would pray for him and absolutely. And so we just had a really sweet relationship and I went out to the field one day, um, to see how everybody was doing, check on things. And I noticed that his demeanor was very, very, um, defeated. He was frustrated. He was yelling at his team, just really abnormal traits that he normally didn’t carry.

And I was driving back to the office and just praying and talking to the Lord. And God was like, you need to ask him, is he walking in his calling? And I [00:11:00] will tell you, I had no idea where this young man was with the Lord. And it’s one of the. Those moments when God asks you to do something and you’re like, okay, God, I, I don’t really know how this is going to happen, but if that’s you, I ask that you open a door for me to have that conversation.

And as it would turn out, it definitely happened the very next day. Um, I was down in our operations office and, uh, several of these guys were down there and I walked in into a conversation and they were talking about, And it was really funny because I walked in and I’m like, okay, God, definitely an open door.

And these guys were discussing, like, do you think everybody has a purpose in this life? Do you think we all have different purposes? Do you think it’s the same? Do we get to choose what our purpose is? Um, pretty deep conversation for an operations office. Um, but I will tell you, I got along with that young man and I got to ask him, [00:12:00] Do you think you’re walking in the purposes and the plans that the Lord has for you?

And in the sweetness of God, the young man looked at me and he said, have I ever told you where I volunteer? And he told me about a place that he volunteers locally and it’s with special needs kids. And he got tears in his eyes and he said, I absolutely love doing that. I feel invigorated when I get to go volunteer and do that.

And so we talked about what does that look like? Is that something you could do? Is that a calling? It was really sweet. He ended up, um, moving over and working for that company. And I will tell you, your calling might not be that specific, but know this, you have a calling and your operation actually has, your occupation has nothing to do with that.

You could be a barista, an insurance agent, a fireman, or a director. Your [00:13:00] calling is the drive and passion that God has placed in you. If you’ve ever seen the movie chariots of fire, Eric Little, who is a world class runner, he is faced with a pretty big dilemma of do I give up, um, all my training and my dreams of being an Olympic runner and go be a missionary.

And, um, in the scene he’s talking and he says, I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his presence. I feel his pleasure. And I truly believe when we are living in our calling, we feel God’s pleasure. You see, I said earlier, a calling is always about others. And a sign that you’re walking in your calling is that it becomes contagious to those around you.

And, um, I saw this, um, later on [00:14:00] in March of 2020. Um, I was, uh, regional director of operations for a large franchise. restaurant, um, in the Texas area. And if you remember in March of 2020, um, probably like all of you, we had to shut the doors in, um, of all of our restaurants and I had to lay off hundreds of people and it was really tough.

And as I talked to the owners of each of these franchises, we realized in order for us to survive this, um, we were going to bring in all of our managers from the restaurants and we were going to have to, um, do takeout only. And I will tell you that, um, we, we brought in every manager from all of our locations just to man the hatches.

Um, this is not a mom and pop restaurant. This is a. Large scale menu intensive restaurant. Most of [00:15:00] these restaurants do at minimum 115, 000 worth of sales a week. And so, it, it was one that it was a huge undertaking. We, we didn’t know any of our PARs that were going to happen for takeout only. We didn’t even know if our trucks with our food were going to be able to get to us.

But we knew we had to save people’s jobs. And, um, I didn’t want any of the investments of these owners, these franchisees. I didn’t want them to go under. And so we were gonna have to work and boy, did we work our tails off. Um, I will tell you for 9 weeks straight, we would each work about 15 hour shifts a day.

Um, during that time I had four managers quit. They just couldn’t handle it. Um, I remember at that time I was working 5 a. m. to 11 o’clock at night, um, just exhausted. And I can specifically remember in the middle of this craziness, um, one [00:16:00] day I was preparing our fry station at this restaurant and just praying and talking to the Lord.

And I heard the Lord say, I’ve called you to these people. And I had known that it wasn’t anything new, but it was a reminder. It was a reminder that I truly needed to love them. Even in a moment that was exhausting, that was hard. My calling didn’t change. And that time was really grew really, really grueling.

Um, we did get to open every one of our restaurants back up the long hours of working those nine weeks. They actually accelerated my relationship with. Each of our managers, like no other time. Most of the time I would come in and check on each restaurant here and there and have weekly calls with him.

But during those nine weeks, we worked shoulder to shoulder, deep conversations, [00:17:00] time together. We saw the worst of each other. Um, and it was a sweet time that I got to pray and know each of my managers. In August of 2020, that year, One of our restaurants had a break in, and two of our managers were closing when the break in happened, and shots were fired, and we, um, had to walk through a shooting, and what that looked like, and it was a lot.

And at that time, I really was like, God, what have I got myself into? Praise God, um, not either of our managers were hurt, which was great. But it was a time that. All of our restaurants rallied together, and I got to see that calling is contagious. Um, I got to see managers that actually entered the restaurant business as a career.

They saw it as means of providing for their [00:18:00] family, of working up the corporate ladder. They saw it as, um, people getting shifts done. They saw this just as a job to make money. But I saw them realize that it was actually more about their people. And I saw managers step up and begin to see their people, know their people, pray over their people.

And it was a really sweet time. And I saw. That where God had placed me, it actually was a calling, even though I wasn’t passionate about the restaurant industry. I wasn’t passionate about, um, PARs and actually even food, but I was passionate about people. And God can use that wherever you are. And I will tell you during that time, I did not think I was living this out well.

But God’s grace covered, he covered that time. And a prayer that I [00:19:00] prayed over and over during that time was that God, this is where you’ve placed me. I choose to steward it. Well, help me to walk in the calling you’ve placed over me, no matter how I feel. And I will tell you, calling is contagious and what you do for the Lord, what you partner with the Lord to do that calling becomes contagious to those around you.

Amen. When you live out your calling in your life, it is infectious to those around you. Kingdom leaders lift others up to places they wouldn’t go otherwise. If any of you had the opportunity to meet our founder and our leader, Rick Beaton Bow, you saw him

live out his calling.

He showed CEOs and kingdom leaders all around the world [00:20:00] that called, had called them to so much more in the marketplace. He walked with so many of us and showed us a different way of how to do business. His calling was contagious. It called me to do better. It caused me to want to step up. And as we get to read emails, we get to hear people and share kind of how Rick touched their life.

The marking point of all of them that it was all kingdom. It wasn’t Rick. It was kingdom. And every one of us is called. We are given gifts and talents. From the Lord to steward, no matter what our job, no matter our career, no matter our title. You see your calling. It never changes. So if you go from the corporate world to being a stay at home, mom, calling is still the same.

If you go from being a doctor [00:21:00] to being a missionary, your calling never changes from a marketplace job into a corporate job. Your mom, you’re calling. It never changes. Gallup reports that 65 percent of workers They see their work is just a job to produce income. What an opportunity you and I have in the marketplace to show people that there’s more than just a job.

They can find a calling in whatever occupation, whatever career they’re in. Because when you find purpose in your work, when you can walk in your calling that God has for you, then you can walk alongside and partner just like Rick did with other people and helping them find their purpose. This and they’re calling.

You see, God loves community. Are you helping those around you walk in their calling? Dr. Martin [00:22:00] Luther King jr He quoted this if a man is called to be a street sweeper He should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted Or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well, no matter the career, no matter the occupation or job, when we do it unto the Lord and we partner with him, the calling becomes something that is evident.

It becomes just a beautiful aroma. So I challenge you right now to walk in your calling. I want to pray over you. And, um, we’ll talk here in a second. Lord, I pray over each one of these men and women. I ask Lord that you would help them see the calling that you’ve placed on [00:23:00] each one of them. But I pray that any mind shift that needs to take place, that you would help them reveal any obstacles, Lord, that maybe they found identity in their career and not in you, Father.

Lord, we thank you right now that what you’ve placed in our hands to steward, Lord, we will do it well. And I prayed just an anointing and a blessing over each one of these men and women in Jesus name. Amen. Hey, next month, I’m so excited. Um, beat and bow companies, new, newest CEO in town, Gina Roach is going to be on our webinar with us.

It will be live. We actually want to know. What is it you would love to hear Gina talk about? And so on our LinkedIn and on our Facebook page at Kingdom at Work, you can find us and we are going to have a poll that will be up, uh, the 1st of January. And in that, we would [00:24:00] love to know, would you love to hear Gina talk about clarity versus trust?

The culture drivers or the power of unity. So we would love to hear from you. Um, thank you so much for being understanding and giving us grace during this time. We thank you right now, and I pray that God blessed you through this. Thank you.