Your purpose can't be thwarted!

Lately, I have been thinking about the challenges people can face in finding secure, satisfying employment. I’m reminded of a time, years ago, when Christian Science helped me make a radical change of careers. By trusting God to guide me and open the way, I left a job that wasn’t a good fit for my talents or aspirations and found a new career that was more satisfying than anything I could have imagined. In particular, I’ve been remembering a small Christian Science Reading Room with a message in the window that changed my life.

After attending law school, I began practicing real estate law because that was where I found a well-paying job. Looking back, I can see that I let myself be pulled into this job without any clear sense of direction. The money was a big incentive. For about six years, I did legal work for the planning stages of two large, multi-use development projects in Southern California. Bit by bit, I evolved into the project manager, coordinating a large team of land-use planners, engineers, and other consultants.

Eventually the time came when my work on those projects was complete, and I faced being out of a job. There were openings at other real-estate law firms in the area, but I felt strongly that I didn’t want to take that path. The work I’d done had been interesting and challenging, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Plus, I felt conflicted about the trade-off between the benefits of development and the many environmental impacts.

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