To leave a legacy, you must live it.
A legacy begins with the understanding of this simple truth from C.T. Studd: “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last”.The beginning of the Career Transition Workshop started with (you guessed it) a firing – my own. As I took advantage of the outplacement services offered to me, I noticed something was missing. God! Every day, people face the reality of job loss and its associated fears. Faith is the best antidote for fear. God shouldn’t be missing nor should His word which is filled with practical wisdom. Before I knew it, God had put on my heart the need to develop a biblically based faith focused career transition process. That was the beginning of Transition Consulting in 1990.
It was awesome – literally, God inspired. All the fragments of my life came together to help shape the material. God’s word came alive and found its place embedded within the methodology. By mid-year, we began consulting with our first outplacement client. We realized that this calling from God could sustain itself economically.Then, God had one more surprise. He asked me to give it away for free! I didn’t understand. How could I make a living using this methodology and at the same time offer it once a week for free? God simply told me that if I was faithful to the mission, He would watch out for the margins. He has been true to His word.
Our mission is to touch and transform the lives of people and organizations in transition with the truth that transcends all time and trials so that we may glorify the Lord our God by simply doing what He asked us to do.By October 1991, we offered our first Career Transition Workshop series at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. It was a time of high unemployment and we estimated 400-500 members of this megachurch were out of work. We averaged only 10 weekly participants during the first series – only 25 during the second. We were heartbroken. All this effort. All this time. So few people helped. I went to God in prayer. Why did He not bless my ministry? The answer was quick and clear. As soon as I recognized it as His ministry, things would change. Our third series we averaged 75 and after that, we never were under 100. God is good.
For the next 10 years, we continued to offer the program at a single location once a week. Each week we added new participants, but we were praying for how we could multiple the model. God answered that prayer. In one month, we had three different churches ask how they could use our materials in their place. Reiss Tatum with Mandarin Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, Florida, Locke Alderson with Fellowship Bible Church in Plano, Texas and Bill Micale with Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas launched our Affiliates Program. In 2011, after 20 years of leadership, we executed our succession plan and I passed the baton to Pat Harper-Polland who had directed the CTW-San Antonio Affiliate for many years. Today, a host of people serve as directors, presenters, mentors and volunteers. Together, they have served tens of thousands of job seekers who while searching for a new living, may find a new life.
God is so good. God still leads. I thank Him for using me. There is no greater sense of significance. The legacy is His.