Every morning, millions of people head to jobs they love, tolerate, or even dread. Yet few stop to consider why work matters so much in the first place. Even as I write this statement, I fall firmly in that last category, dreading my job. Each day, as I drag myself out the door, I rarely stop to consider the deeper purpose of work. It’s so easy to focus on what frustrates me rather than recognizing how my job is shaping me in meaningful ways.
I currently work at the Boys and Girls Club here in Louisville, and through my two months there, I’ve realized that working with kids can be very challenging. Although it can feel rewarding at times, it comes with its fair share of difficulties. I often find myself dwelling on the negatives, which makes me forget the positives and the reason I am there in the first place.
But that perspective belonged to me two weeks ago, before a trip to Washington, D.C. and the Fellows Initiative conference shifted how I see work entirely. On the first day, guest speaker Julie Silander spoke about bringing our faith into the workplace. Throughout her presentation, she had us fill out questions and encouraged us to seek the Lord’s guidance, asking God to show us how He wants to work in our lives during this next season.
When she began talking about the importance of work, I wasn’t surprised. I could already sense what God was about to bring to the surface. I had been struggling to find joy in my job and didn’t fully understand why He had placed me there.
While Julie shared many powerful ways to live out our faith at work, one particular point felt like the Lord speaking directly to me, and it stayed with me long after her presentation. She spoke about our calling to bring restoration into the workplace, illustrating it with the image of broken pottery scattered across the floor.
She explained how the Creator carefully repairs the pottery and fills it with gold. In this imagery, God is the master sculptor, and the broken pottery represents the fractured
relationships and challenges we encounter in our jobs. We are all called to help the Lord mend that brokenness.
This made me reflect on how I can bring healing and hope to my workplace. I work with kids who come to escape difficult home situations, and those four hours at the Boys and Girls Club are often the best part of their day. Seeing this, God revealed the true importance of my job and my presence there. Being with these kids every day and serving as a positive role model has a lasting impact on their future, even if it isn’t immediately visible. Sometimes it’s hard because the results aren’t instant, but I’m learning that the Lord is guiding me to plant seeds whose fruit I may never witness. Through this, I am learning to trust His plan for me and for these kids fully.
Reflecting on all of this, I realize that work, no matter how challenging or frustrating, carries a deeper purpose that often goes unseen. My job at the Boys and Girls Club is more than a way to earn a paycheck. It is a place where God is teaching me patience, compassion, and the power of influence through small, consistent actions. Each smile I share, each word of encouragement, each moment of guidance is part of a bigger picture that only He can see. I may never witness the full impact of my work, but I am learning that faithfulness in the everyday moments matters. God is using me to plant seeds of hope, restoration, and love, and in doing so, He is shaping not just the lives of these kids, but my own heart as well. Work is no longer something I dread, it is a sacred opportunity to partner with God in His redemptive work in the world.