Chapter 1 When Others Saw Something in Me Before I Did

Sometimes calling is recognized by others long before it is named by us.

For a long time, I didn’t think of myself as “called” to anything in particular. I never had a dramatic moment where God declared my future. What I had instead were small, repeated comments that followed me from my teenage years into adulthood.

People would say, “You’re a good listener,” or “You help people think things through,” or “You’re steady—calming to talk to.” At the time, I heard these as observations, not direction.

Looking back now, I understand something I couldn’t see then: others often saw the shape of my calling before I did.

As a young adult, I knew the path my father had chosen—carpentry—would not be my own. I briefly considered aviation and earned my private pilot’s license at eighteen, but I also knew that dream carried more of my father’s desire than my own. Combined with the cost of training and paying for school on my own, my attention returned to the helping profession.

While pursuing Psychology at LSUS, I sought guidance from a professor I respected after being offered a job at a local nonprofit. The position required a degree I had not yet completed. His advice was clear: “don’t take the job”.

I took it anyway.

I did the work well and soon became director of the program. That role led to others—residential facilities, group homes, substance abuse counseling, and vocational consulting. Each role stretched me beyond my formal preparation, yet each also confirmed something quietly forming beneath the surface.

What felt natural began to feel meaningful. Counseling didn’t feel like ambition—it felt like alignment.

Only later did I understand the difference between aptitude and calling. Aptitude is what you’re good at. Calling is what God entrusts you with—for the sake of others.

God was shaping my calling long before I knew what He was doing.

Calling often begins as pieces or patterns, not as a clear fully formed destination.

Where have others seen something in you that you were slow to recognize?