Weekly News | 7.3.26

For several weeks this summer, our eNews will highlight stories from our community, brief reflections on the intersection of our faith and vocation. May it be an opportunity to know someone at COTC as well as an avenue through which we might consider and engage the Lord around our particular work.

I’ve experienced my professional life in chunks defined by identity-shaping narratives, each of which holds varying levels of truth.

Narrative 1: The story of a first-gen college graduate figuring out how to rise quickly in a booming tech start-up scene. My identity was shaped by my gusto and ability to have (also read: force) a voice in every room.

Narrative 2: The story of a woman in her late 20s–new to faith, new to marriage, and new to the understanding of discernment. My identity was shaped by well-intentioned advice that in order to really “look Christian” and “do it right,” I had better find mission-aligned work and embrace financial struggle, regardless of the fact that I was five months pregnant.

Narrative 3: The story of a working mother and bread winner, now confident enough in my relationship with Jesus to understand that my faith was “good,” even if my title did not immediately communicate that I am, in fact, Christian. My identity was shaped by being a teachable, responsive, intentional leader.

Narrative 4: The story of unemployment.

It was this narrative that broke me–not because I was unemployed, but because I was forced to face just how much of my identity and self worth were tied up in what I was providing my family through work. I crumbled and begged God for a break from the uncertainty that left me feeling useless.

In time, through my exhausted heartache, I began to picture my life in astounding imagery: my household, my community, my work, all nestled under the umbrella of God’s infinite and tangible care.

I was able to see that everything I had prayed would stay intact - belief, relationships, connectedness, contemplation - were sound and very real. What was not sound was the made-up version of “getting it right” that could only be achieved through an impressive title. In this refined view, God’s active presence was truer than any self-preserving professional narrative I could write.

Still, this truth did not always bring emotional rest. Every unanswered application made me angry. Every rejection stung more than the last. But even on the most deflating days, I experienced - with divine clarity - acceptance guided by hope. Through a contract job or even a day of unexplained joy in the middle of a financial fire, I heard the voice of God say, “Wait. I am here.”

I waited, and God was there.

Cut to my first day in a dream role nearly four months ago. There is no narrative this time - only certainty that my identity in Christ has always held the real weight, the real value, the real story.

Jessie Collins leads Global Continuous Improvement at Yogi Tea. She serves in The Garden, and she and her family have been a part of the COTC community for nearly 11 years (since the first Sunday!). Jessie enjoys life with her husband, Tommy, and their daughters Amelia (11) and Bonnie (almost 8).