Vol. 2, April 2008

High Calling Blogs Newsletter
Volume 2, April 21, 2008

We're Moving Forward

It’s past time for our second ever HighCallingBlogs.com newsletter. Things are happening so fast we can hardly keep up. If you happened to miss our first newsletter, use this link to read Volume 1.

Also we are highlighting different posts from the community at the home page of HighCallingBlogs.com nearly every day. Be sure to stop by each other’s blogs regularly and add your two cents with a comment on what you find there. The posts are located beneath the “What is it all about?” section on the front page right now.

Of course, that is going to be changing with our redesign that is in the works. But more on that in a bit…

Member Highlight

We’ve got so many wonderful writers in community here at HighCallingBlogs.com that it’s hard to single out just one. But we wanted to point out a brand new member of our community who is blogging about integrating her faith where she works. Winnie Anderson recently posed a great question on her blog. Does Peace at Work Begin with You?

Here’s an excerpt:

Go check out the post to read the whole thing. Then, leave a comment to encourage Winnie with your thoughts while you’re there!

Group Writing Project

We’ve already got OVER FORTY entries in our first ever Group Writing Project. You can find out how to participate here: What is the Strangest Job You’ve Ever Had?

Marcus Goodyear is hosting the current Group Writing Project. Keep up with all the posts as they are submitted at Lessons From Odd Jobs.

And there’s still time to participate in the project! Just write up your blog post and follow these guidelines to submit your post. Then be sure to go check out all these wonderful posts and don’t forget to leave comments on them with your thoughts.

Install Your Badge?

If you haven't loaded your HighCallingBlogs.com banner yet, please do! We're a community here--so be proud of that community by displaying your highcallingblogs.com badge. Here is the code for the popular orange badge:

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If you would like code for other badges, visit us at http://highcallingblogs.com/badges.

Redesign Coming Soon

I briefly mentioned a redesign for HighCallingBlogs.com at the top of this newsletter. We are working on a new design that will correct some things about the site that make it less user friendly than it could be. We’re going to improve functionality, make it easier to find the content that you are most interested in, and change some things that we just plain don’t like about the current version of the site.

Our plan is to roll out the new site in the next 30 – 60 days. When it’s done, we’re confident that you will find HighCallingBlogs.com a much more engaging place to connect with other bloggers in your community.

We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

Enjoy!

P.S. Here are the entries in our so far in Lessons from Odd Jobs, in case you didn’t click over to the main page:

1. What I Learned from Really Tired Feet by Robert Hruzek in Houston, the guy who helped out a TON on this little project and spins a good ol’ yarn (a true one, mind you) about foot spray and Texas heat.
2. Lessons from Odd Jobs by Dan King, proud former employee of Yo-Yo Loco.
3. An Odd Lesson by Shalene, a former magician’s assistant.
4. Once Upon a Time I Was a Guinea Pig by Mark Goodyear, who once had a job where he got paid to stand around.
5. Into the Ordinary by L. L. Barkat (buy her book!) whose regular jobs help her realize “maybe there is hope for the ordinary person.”
6. I Was a Fast-Food BBQ Busboy by Brandon Satrom, who cleaned bathrooms and handled raw chicken and still learned some touching lessons about work.
7. Not a Fry Cook on Venus by Dave Zimmerman, who reviewed legal documents out of the dumpster and learned that “oddness and competence are unrelated.”
8. My Life at Labor Temp by Dan Roloff, the Editor-in-Chief of TheHighCalling.org [read Mark Goodyear’s supervisor and friend]. Dan worked some temp jobs and factory jobs where “the world looked bleak, and work looked even bleaker.” It’s a tough essay, but powerfully honest.
9. Merrie’s Big Adventure by Merrie DeStefano, who includes a truly frightening picture of gas masks.
10. A Real Saturday Post - The Odd Job by Rebecca Luella Miller, who sorted phone cords. Truly odd.
11. I’ve Been Memed! Lessons from Odd Jobs by Marlo B. Manitoba, who had some interesting jobs before she became a joyful Christian wife. Thanks for your honesty and courage, Marlo. (She even uses Marcus' logo!)
12. My “Not So Odd” Jobs by Jim Garland, who went from soda jerk to carpet cleaning telemarketer without any Glengarry leads.
13. Lessons from Odd Jobs: You’re Fired by Karl Edwards who one day “had to tell 10% of the firm that they were being laid off… effective immediately.” Yikes.
14. Snapshots from a Variety of Odd Jobs by Jim Martin who writes a very touching post about selling the same bread for different prices, mailing lady bugs, and discovering that the bosses errands include getting his wife to sign divorce papers.
15. On Meme’s and Special Things by Carl Holmes, whose job is so weird I’m a little flabbergasted. To use polite language, Carl was an agrarian flatulence technician.
16. What I Learned from Steam Cleaning Carpets by Brad Shorr, who shouldn’t move grand pianos without extra pay or agree to clean large black oil stains without getting paid up front.
17. My First Job by Gordon Atkinson who was suckered by his dad into starting a lawn care business one summer that ended up teaching him some incredible lessons about work and faith. For those of you who don’t know Gordon, he is an incredible blogger who bares his soul at RealLivePreacher.com. Check him out.
18. Dr. Strangelove and Me: What I Learned from Riding Missiles by G. L. Hoffman, the CEO and Chairman of JobDig, who was–get this!–an an “Air Force officer in charge of a nuclear missile, in Kansas.” Not sure what awards we’ll hand out, if any. But so far, you win, GL. That is insane.
19. Lessons from Odd Jobs by Mark D. Roberts, another heavy hitter in the blogosphere who was gracious enough to participate. Mark tells a moving story of helping his employer trim the grass around her husband’s grave. Powerful stuff.
20. What I Learned from an Odd Job by Karen Hanrahan, who learned to love people while working at a dude ranch where the cowboys “would spit if they liked your behind.”
21. Things I Learned Being a Popsicle Man by Otto Haugland, a new blogger who makes me laugh with insights like “driving by an outdoor boy scout jamboree is Popsicle Man heaven.” HILARIOUS!
22. In the Dailies: Odd Jobs by Tanya Dennis whose job includes teaching her daughter not to sing the ‘erection song’ at Easter, and teaching her son not to hang things from… well, you’ll just have to read that one for yourself.
23. How Kids Start Off on the Entrepreneurial Trail by Yvonne Russel of b5media’s Home Biz Notes, who earned her first pay check for fetching a batch of icy paddlepops for some tired carpenters.
24. What I Learned from Being a Pregnant Usherette by Amy Palko, who learned that popcorn and morning sickness don’t mix.
25. A Lifetime of Odd Jobs by yours truly, Chris Cree. I had so many odd jobs I decided to list some of them with a short annotation like this: “I got kicked in the teeth by a horse once. No, it wasn’t fun.”
26. What I Learned from Door to Door Sales by Lillie Ammann who was questioned by the police for trying to sell Highlights magazine to a 43 year old man.
27. What I Learned from Sweeping Up Hair by Drew McLellan who learned the value of an authentic complement and the horror of being ignored. By the way, I met Drew last year at SOBcon07. He has a good little book about marketing called 99.3 Random Acts of Marketing.
28. What I Learned From Picking Zucchini by Lisa Gates at the 360 Alliance who got fired for picking vegetables that were not long enough. (I’m tempted to put up another clip from Spinal Tap, but I won’t do it.)
29. Lessons Learned from Odd Moments on the Job by Jacob Share at JobMob who nearly knocked Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos down the stairs while trying to get some extra calisthenics into his day.
30. What I Learned from Working in a Sweet Shop by Joanna Young at Confident Writing who was left in charge of the store on her first day. She was thirteen years old, but that didn’t stop her from rising to the task!
31. What I Learned from Having a Job for a Day by Trevor Hampel who once worked at a voting station in the Australian outback where he collected 16 votes in 12 hours. Hey man, every vote counts.
32. What I Learned from … Odd Jobs by Sarah Stewart who confesses to plotting how she might convince an old lady and a monk to give her a thousand pounds or so.
33. The Strangest Job I Ever Had and Lessons Learned by High Calling Blogger Tim “Jethro” Miller at Spy Journal 3.0 who fed people’s stomachs and egos with his locally famous “bourbon burgers.”
34. What I Learned from Pumping Gas by Chris Brown who remembers when gas was only$0.35 per gallon!
35. What I Learned from Sorting Apples by Robyn McMaster who learned that First Class apples don’t really have to be perfect.
36. What I Learned from Theater Lighting by Sam Brougher who not only has some interesting lessons from working lights for The Wizard of Oz, but lists his job history and pay scale for each. The psychology of rumors pays better than landscaping.
37. What I Learned from My Two Weeks as a Tomato by Thursday Bram who wins the award for coolest name. She learned that “other people won’t find your tomato suit — or other gimmicks — nearly as embarrassing as you will.”
38. What I Learned from Being a Listening Post by Jean Browman who was a volunteer ear. Reading this story, I think Jean must be the most patient person in the world.
39. What I Learned from Odd Jobs by Patrizia Broghammer who wins the award for strangest combination of jobs. She sold tadpoles and sang communist propaganda.
40. My Non-Entry to MZMs ‘What I Learned from Odd Jobs’ by Karen H. who shares some of the odd tasks that accompanied her recent purchace of a new computer.
41. What I Learned from Odd Jobs by Jackie Cameron who wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself when the bank asked her to do something that was dangerous.