Evaluating the Week

Let's see how I did on that list of things to do this week.

Pray every day as 1st priority.

1. Apply for unemployment

2. Search for job listings online.

3. Rework my resume in a functional style.

4. Think about creative ideas for job/career directions.

5. Exercise 5 days.

6. Apply for at least 3 jobs.

I’ve been praying each day (not always before I do other things) and making progress in Ezekiel. It is a very interesting book. Right now I’m still in the gloom and judgment part of it, but there is a ray of hope. God marked a remnant of faithful people to save from destruction. They were the ones who refused to bow down to the idols of the day and were saddened by the corruption and vice that they saw around them. How can that apply to myself in today’s culture? What idols am I personally tempted to bow to? (selfishness, money/success, overindulging physical appetites). You see, the Bible is absolutely relevant, even the Old Testament. (God, please help me to stay true to you.) Now some are offended at the very idea of judgment. Let me just say this. If you really read the Old Testament, God would give warnings to Israel and do everything he could to remind the people of what was right and what they needed to do before he handed down the punishment. It wasn’t capricious and He did not take pleasure in it. Jesus provided the ultimate answer to that cycle. God knew that none of us could fulfill the law perfectly. The purpose of the law is to open our eyes to see that we have done wrong and that we need God. He sent Jesus to take the punishment so that we could be reconciled with God by believing in Jesus and asking for forgiveness.

I did everything, except I’m short one day on exercise and didn't meet the minimum job applications. I could do a walking tape tonight after it has cooled off. I was thinking today, “Once I start working, how am I going to keep up with this journal, exercise, and everything else?” I’m so spoiled now, having plenty of time to do all these personal things and the down time to just let my mind wander. I’m the kind of person that needs to have some down time or space during the day to recharge and refresh myself. I’m spending hours looking at job listings, too, but at home at my own convenience and pace. OK, stop whining, Cheryl. We have a new saying in the house that a friend of my mother’s introduced a couple of weeks ago, “Put on your big girl panties, and deal with it”. Work is a part of life. Once I have a new job, I’ll be excited about it and glad to have somewhere to go and be productive.

I applied for only one job, not 3. The reason is that it’s hard to find job listings that fit me very well. That’s the trick of trying to go a new career direction- you don’t have prior experience in the job you want or all the qualifications that they are asking for. I’ve found technical writing jobs, but they are not entry level. Even office jobs want more software experience than I have. I don’t know how to use Access or Power Point. I’m still getting familiar with Excel. They also want experience in an office setting. I don’t think I want to be an executive assistant, anyway. The library jobs I’ve found require one or more years of experience and a degree or at least some training. Good thing that tomorrow I’ll be going to the WorkSource workshops on identifying skills and finding job/career fields that suit you well. That should provide some encouragement and hopefully I can get a few new ideas. I need new ideas.