Get to know me - Margaret Cheng
I was born and raised in Calgary and have seen the city go through many changes over the years. I love the resiliency and the community spirit I see in this city that I call home. Being a lifelong Calgarian, I embrace the -40C days because I know there will be sunshine and a chinook around the corner. I view those cold days as a gift to slow down and chill out with my two young daughters, where we can bake cookies and watch movies all day long.
I became involved with Intersect around 5 years ago as my husband and I were talking and struggling with how our careers can glorify God. I was working at an oil and gas company downtown and was involved with various downtown fellowships. A question I often heard from fellow Christians was, "how does my work glorify God?" For myself and many others I talked to, it was hard to see how working in a cubicle or office could be God's work when we compared that to the work of a pastor, a missionary in a remote region, or someone in a caring profession like a doctor or teacher where one was tangibly caring for God's people on a regular basis.
A friend gave us a book, "Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work" by Tim Keller. This book brought a paradigm shift in how I viewed work. I was reminded that God intends for us to work and that the Bible starts off with God’s work in creating the heavens and the earth. He worked for six out of the seven days in the week and declared it good. After reading the book, I saw what I did not merely as a job but as a calling because God wants to use the gifts and talents that He has blessed me with. My workplace is God's mission field for me and I am blessed with the unique opportunity to love and care for those who have never stepped foot in a church. There shouldn't be a divide from our time spent at church on Sunday to how we live the majority of our lives, which for many of us includes the 40+ hours we spend at work every week.
How well do you know your co-workers and the struggles they may be going through, the addictions, estranged relationships, or other areas of brokenness that they may be experiencing? Do you pray or share your faith in God with them? Do you show unconditional love and kindness to all your co-workers? Whatever vocation God has called you to, I pray that you will see this as your mission field and seize this as an opportunity to worship Him.
