Ambition

I've never been a particularly ambitious fellow. I decided upon my college major at the latest possible moment, the end of my sophomore year. My choice, Literary & Cultural Studies, was greatly influenced by the relatively thin list of required classes for LCS. This allowed me to take more classes in other fields, like history and philosophy. (I didn't want to get tied into any one thing)

I did not seek out either of the first two jobs I had after graduation, I was recruited in both instances. There was a time while I lived in Washington state, after I left my youth ministry position at the town's Lutheran church, when I floated between a number of different things, never really developing a plan for my future. I took a couple of seminary classes, I did a bit of work as a personal chef, I contemplated being a full time house-husband. Once again, I ended up falling into something. The church I was attending was seeking a Director of Family Ministry, and I talked with the pastor about helping out on an interim basis while their search continued. She persuaded me to meet with their search committee, and I ended up on staff there. It was the best ministry job I've ever had, but it was not at all the result of any ambition on my part.

Last summer, when I started thinking about life after a divorce, I had a hard time picturing what I should do. It was kind of tough to think about being the Director of Family Ministry at a church when my own family just fell apart. The church graciously communicated to me that they would support me if I wanted to stay on staff, but I just did not think that I had the emotional or spiritual reserves to be effective in that position.

I have always loved to cook; some of my favorite memories from growing up were spending a Saturday afternoon making chili or goulash with my dad while watching college football on TV. Everyone in my family is a good cook and my sister, Monte, is a baker who currently works (at least until my new niece or nephew is born in the next couple of weeks!) in the test kitchen at King Arthur Flour. She and I have dreamed over the years about running a bed & breakfast or a bakery/cafe together in our retirement. It never seemed like it could happen any sooner than that because my ex has an incredible job in Washington that we would not leave, and Monte and her husband intend to settle down in the Midwest.

Since I am no longer tied to the Pacific Northwest, I decided to actually do something about that dream (which is now focused more on the bakery cafe idea than on the B&B) Could this be the beginnings of some ambition appearing in my life?

For the past three months I have been the assistant manager at a new fresh-take-&-bake kitchen in Kansas City. We make meals that people can pick up on their way home from work and cook for dinner that night. I get to do a lot of the cooking, help with the marketing, help with the training of the employees, and brainstorm strategies for growing the business with the owner. I also observed (and helped with a little bit) part of the process of opening a new business. The owner has been wonderful to work for, and he has been intentional about saying things like "such-and-such is something you will need to keep in mind when you and your sister open your cafe." I have a hard time imaging a better place for me right now to learn the things I will need to know to make the dream of running a cafe a reality.