This class is a little different than what you're probably used to. We are not allowing you to passively consume information. Here you'll have to actually do the work and show us in order to advance to each new lesson. It's too easy to watch/read and talk yourself out of it based on the information we're giving, without you bringing your part to the table and allowing God to bring his as well. You'll need a little patience for Alice and I, or our team to get to your homework, but we will bump reasonable attempts through as quickly as we can.

I'm aware that this is supposed to be a class to help you find your ideal business. Yet, business needs to be secondary to our true purpose in life. Almost all entrepreneurs sought to get out of the rat race, have more freedom, flexibility, time to spend with family or other pursuits so they decided to start a business. What usually happens is that they end up working harder at a business than they did their day job. What was intended to bring freedom became a prison. If you do this right, by setting your priorities and needs up front, before determining what business, and what model, you can avoid or minimize the pitfalls.

Of course, if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. That's how the saying goes right?

Let me tell you, it's not entirely true. I love my businesses. I love the entire concepts of them, I love the fruit from them, but there are also necessary tasks that I don't love. There is still work. And it's hard. You need love and passion to carry you through!

Don't get yourself in a bind.

Business is often your means of being able to do what you need to do. Your calling in life may or may not have anything to do with business. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have one. Business can provide the finances, and if you structure it right, the flexibility to have the lifestyle that is necessary to carry out all that you're called to do in life. Granted, God can work out the details if He wants us somewhere doing something, but I think that we have a degree of responsibility to not get ourselves into bondage in the effort to make a living.

Your vocation is possibly a much broader thing than you've been led to believe. The word vocation comes from the Latin word "vocare" which means "to call." It was traditionally used in a religious sense, as in a calling to formal ministry such as the priesthood. I personally believe we can be called just about anywhere. Being called is not necessarily synonymous with some sort of full time official ministry position. So assuming you are called to something, and I think it's a very safe assumption you are, what is it you are called to? What is your true vocation? And is there only one?

This week we are going to look at the "bigger than business" picture. We need to ask some questions you may or may not have considered, especially in the area of what you should do for money. If you have repressed your dreams, this is going to be a tough but necessary assignment. I'm about to ask you what you want. Not what you think you can have. Not what you think you deserve. Not what you think you can earn. What you want. I realize that is a big vague scary question. Never fear, I have an attached worksheet with some direct questions.

Pssst! Ever wonder about that verse regarding God giving you the desires of your heart? Everybody gets all wound up about whether their desires are in line with what God wants for them. Mom made me learn Latin so I could take words apart. "De" is "from" or "of," "sire" of course means father." FROM FATHER. Any questions?

"For it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him." Phil 2:13

I love that verse. Read it again. "For it is God who is producing in you both the desire and ability to do what pleases Him." What a relief right? Everything you need is already in you! What if it isn't just selfishness? What if all the stuff religion was trying to snuff out of you is actually what you're supposed to be up to?

Unlike our birth parents who may have urged us to take safe employment, He created us and endowed us with gifts to go in the direction that He knew we will find the most fulfilling. He knew us before we were in our mothers womb and planned all the necessary things we would need.

I think I take it for granted that I work with delighted people, (Psalm 37:4) It might be worth an examination of motive if you have any doubts about yourself. I really don't question people's desires. Even those who would say a desire isn't godly, probably are not looking at the essence of the desire, but the outward display of it. A person who wants to be a bank robber for instance. The desire for money - not wrong. Desire for adrenaline and risk - not wrong. Robbing banks - wrong.

Most of us have had the dreams beat out of us, so this will be an exercise in reversing repression. When you were little, you had no trouble coming up with big plans. Somewhere along the way, we were encouraged to be practical. To set small goals so we wouldn't be dissappointed. You were taught to be mediocre. We have to get the real you back!

It's possible that even the things you wanted to be when you were little, before the educational system got a hold of you, and your parents started to feel the need to curb some foolishness; your design was showing through. You might look at what it was that appealed to you so much, or look metaphorically at your childhood ambitions. I wanted to be a garbageman. I now help people get rid of their unwanted stuff, usually in the form of stinkin' thinking. But I actually did find my business at a really young age. I made flower essences, bottled them in empty film canisters from my dad's photography business and sold them for seventy-five cents. I just needed 20 years of convincing that it wasn't stupid kid games and that I had a real product. Not everybody finds their business when they are five, but don't neglect looking back to find yourself.

So, you are going to fill out the worksheet as best you can, and post the answers below. You'll write out a vision for your overall life in a paragraph form and engage with that daily. This is the daydreaming part. Many of us haven't done that in years and it will be rusty. This is not going to be a "once and done" endeavor. I want you to be very intentional about setting aside time to do this every day for a week. Give your imagination over to Holy Spirit, let Him sharpen it up and add to it. Make notes throughout the week as you go deeper/see new things/get new ideas.

Sometimes, I think He is just waiting for us to figure out what it is that we want and voice it. To be specific. Most of the time we are not specific, we just know what we don't want any more of. I have looked over worksheets from previous classes and am amazed to see that they have attained some and are close to other things that they identified and put down in a tangible form. It's a direction to move toward.

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. Conversation between Alice and the Cheshire Cat, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol

So that you don't cast me into the Cheshire Cat role (We're all mad here. ) you'll need to spend some time soul searching and also invite God into your visioning process. You'll need revelation on the details. This is why Paul prayed that God would “give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him … that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling.

Essential Homework:

Fill out your first worksheet (download below). Suspend all doubt, worry over obstacles, or how you’re gonna get there. We will be getting real practical, real fast, but that’s not your job right now.

Your Ideal Vocation

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