As we enter November, culminating with the zenith of our American Thanksgiving holiday, we would like to highlight for our Crossroads Career community a few of the many gifts and resources available through the Crossroads Career ministry.  I’m hopeful that by sharing these, we’ll trigger you to see some available resources that may be useful to you and help you be even more effective.

Ps. 9:1 says, “I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.”

Our Gifted and Unified Board

This past weekend in Minnesota our Crossroads Career board of directors gathered for our annual retreat. We do this each year to assess what the ministry has done and to ascertain where God wants to take us in the coming year.  

First, I’m grateful for the people on our board and diversity and depth of their experiences and areas of expertise.  Please see their profiles here:  https://crossroadscareer.org/meet-the-team/.   I’m reminded of 1 Corinthians 12:4-5, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.”   As individuals we are very different people, but we’re unified in our Christian faith and our Crossroads mission and values: https://crossroadscareer.org/vision-values/.  

Practical Vision

Second, I’m grateful for the birthing toward more clarity in a practical vision for Crossroads Career.  For years we’ve envisioned helping “everyone realize they are God’s masterpiece created for good works.”  While not finalized quite yet, we’re headed toward expressing that by practically leveraging the qualities that have helped us gain exceptional reviews.  We want to be known for our network of credible and compassionate volunteers who help the unfulfilled or unemployed.  For 2022, I’m grateful for the solid foundation that has been laid over many years to help us reach thousands more in the years ahead as evidenced by this recent testimony:  “Miss Judy was very helpful and knowledgeable and such a pleasure to work with! She is amazing!”  Tamika

Accomplishments

Finally, I’m grateful for the significant work accomplished in so many areas (we’ll be highlighting some more in the coming weeks) that are best described as the “plumbing and electrical” in our Crossroads Career virtual home.  Whether it’s this weekly newsletter, the topical webinars, the website and mobile app improvements, or the online guides and groups, our ministry is in a very different place to serve others than it was a year ago.   We can now leverage this work to provide even more depth and breadth in our resources and guidance to help people as they navigate the increasingly complex environment of their career journey.

Simply put, Crossroads Career wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for people like our board and a host of volunteers who “cannot not” do the work they do!   I’m one of them and praising God for that opportunity!

---

Dave Sparkman currently serves as the volunteer Crossroads Career board chair and local ministry leader. He is also the founder and managing director of Spark Your Culture, a corporate culture consulting firm. Prior to that he worked at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune #5 public company, serving in the role of Chief Culture Officer. His unemployment experience came from the implosion of Arthur Andersen, where he served as the West Region Managing Partner, People.