Do What You Love & What Uses Your Gifts

by Joe Jones
(Tampa)

I took stock of my background, 29 years of training/human resource experience and two years ago started Career Ministries, a non profit to help churches provide job search training for their unemployed members.

I lead job search seminars and have a 140 page job search manual that may be administered by church volunteers to lead workshops and weekly support group meetings.

We now have a dozen ministries in the Tampa area. It's a ministry of the heart and I've never been so blessed.

This will probably remain an "avocation" from a financial standpoint, so I am a contract virtual trainer for Arise Virtual Solutions to augment my income. And my wife and I still manage to play golf and kayak most every weekend!

Incidentally, Jon, my father has been an ordained Baptist minister for 40 years but he has never wanted to be the pastor at a church - he preaches every Sunday under a pavillion at the worlds largest campground in Virginia Beach Virginia!

He is now 82 years old. This has been his ministry of the heart and he has met people from all over the world! He has been an apartment superintendent, bridge builder, etc. to keep the lights on. And he still relaxes by spending about 10 hours per week working on his old wooden cabin cruiser.

So to Suzie's question - are we successful? Depends.

If success is defined not by the number of dollars you make, but by the number of lives you have positively touched,..... yes.

Do what you love and what uses your gifts, and if the money doesn't follow - take on another job, but don't go to your grave with the music inside!

Joe Jones
Executive Director at Career Ministries