Getting involved!

I received this email from a friend who has been out of town and like many of us bombarded by life. I wanted to share his email with you because I believe his heart speaks to the place God wants us to be and how he wants to use us for his Kingdom.

Enjoy!

How are you? We have missed a lot of church sessions lately with family visits, our sons injury (he's fine - fill you in later), etc. etc. However, it doesn't mean we don't still love you guys. It is important for us to stay as involved as possible. We've been working on incorporating God, Jesus, and Christianity into our family lives and have been working on personal growth as well (prayers/conversations with God, reading/studying, listening to your sermons online, etc.). We plan to be back this Sunday. Just wanted you to know our recent absence doesn't signal a change of heart or commitment.

That being said, I have been thinking of ways to give back to the Church in addition to participating in the community service projects. In today's tough markets, I feel like I can help our members in two ways:

1) I can give investment advice. I'm not sure if there are those in our Church that feel they need it, but it is something I used to do for a living and have received the education (in business school and industry related exams/charters) to do. Others in our church that do this for a living today may be more qualified, but I can offer free and honest basic advice to anyone that would be looking for it with their retirements (401ks, etc.) or other related questions/concerns.

2) I can help people who are looking for work on their resumes/cover letters/communication and job search efforts. Either those who are currently unemployed or those that are employed but looking to change careers. My experience is generally with professionals who have a college education. I did this through the career center while in business school at Cornell and continue to council first and second year business school students on these skills. I thought with the number of people who have been losing their jobs lately or are looking to make a switch, this might come in handy now or down the road.

Just wanted to put this out there for you, in case you ever get approached by members looking for help in either of these areas. If this comes up, feel free to have them e-mail me. I'll keep thinking about other ways that I can contribute as well.