Vernée Wilkinson's Work Stories: Making Space For God and Others
Welcome to the final post in the second annual series of guest posts on the subject of our everyday work lives. During the final weeks of Ordinary Time, we’ve enjoyed a snapshot into the work-life of several friends. Their hospitality and candor gave voice to what they know to be true right now about who they are made to be and, in turn, encouraged us to hear our own work stories in a new way.
I feel lucky to be able to introduce you today to our final guest contributor for this year’s Work Stories. Vernée is a fellow Spiritual Director whom I had the privilege of spending a couple of residencies and one fabulous, conversation-filled road trip back from Boston to New Hampshire and back again. She’s one of those people my heart recognized as kindred in an instant, over a love of this modern icon. While our spiritual expressions look a bit different, we found so much to delight in the places our hearts long for people who live in the darkness of unlove and uncertainty to meet the great Light of Christ who shines brighter than our little torchlights into God’s great mystery can muster. We were drawn together in the unity of God’s Spirit and it’s one of the several beautiful, priceless gifts from my two years of certification.
May Vernée’s hope and prayer for her work to be a place that provides refuge for others encourage each of us today.
In this career season, I am doing Marketing and Community Outreach consulting work. Additionally, I am 3/4 of the way into my Spiritual Direction training through a program called Selah.
The work of Selah requires time and space. To attend to the work of Selah in a way that is meaningful and relevant, I need to have time for our training Residencies, time for extensive reading requirements, time for practice Direction sessions, time to meet with my Direction supervisor, time for personal retreats and other varied assignments.
The time that I have to take part in this work and chosen area of study is a gift. I guard this gift by building a work schedule that supports my continued training to be a spiritual director. For me, my Selah work requires my day to day work to allow flexibility of scheduling.
My current weekly calendar is divided and subdivided into many sections. These blocks of time are allocated for consulting work with SchoolFacts Boston, consulting work with the Theology of Work Project, Selah assignments, volunteer ministry work and Family time. The visual of multiple open tabs on a desktop feels like a picture of my mind on most days. I manage 3 email accounts, 4 twitter accounts, 3 Facebook accounts, and 3 Instagram accounts. Switching mindset, strategy and brand voice from one time block to the next on any given day can be a challenge. The benefit is a flexibility of schedule but the cost is often feeling overstretched.
In all of this I feel and experience in myself and with others the need to pause and leave open physical, mental and emotional spaces for God to meet us with His/Her/Their love and grace. If my current work were to have a future culmination, my prayer is to curate and host a retreat center, where God’s people can gather to hear God’s voice. In particular, my heart desires to provide a refuge space where historically marginalized peoples can find healing from trauma.
This is my prayer.
Vernée Wilkinson is a community outreach and non-profit communications consultant. She has an entrepreneurial heart that is applied to all of her endeavors in life. Currently, Vernée is studying to become a Spiritual Director through the Selah training program. She resides in Boston with her loving family.
Here’s a benediction and song for all of us and our neighbors.
Establish the Work of Our Hands, The Porter’s Gate [feat. Aaron Keys & Urban Doxology]
What story does your daily work tell about who you are called to be in this world right now?
Share with me know in the comments below!
(You can read all of the Work Stories here.)