The Big Three-Oh

The almost-big two-nine has rolled in and I'm not really looking forward to the dreaded three-oh next year. Time to take stock of life, eh?

"Hi, my name is Jamie Grant. I am unemployed, I'm single, I live in my parent's basement and I'm almost thirty years old." Ouch! That hurt a little more than I expected. Heh. Naw, it's not as bad it sounds, though I do fulfill the cliche quite nicely. Let me explain my life a bit more.

I am currently unemployed because I left my job of almost 8 years at AV-Base Systems back in December 2006. I joined an entrepreneurial venture that was aimed at giving financial and personal help to people with disabilities who are denied their rightful insurance claims. There's a great need for support like this, even as a for-profit company, and we had a strong vision for the business and for helping people.

I jumped on board a little too quick and the initial funding that we expected fell through. Unfortunately, the startup capital never did appear and I ended up working for free for almost four months. That wasn't so bad since I had some savings built up. However, my role as Director at this job and at my previous company hasn't really paid off. It was a gamble and I lost but that's fine. No regrets for me personally or professionally. My only regret is that there are so many people that we will never be able to help.

So now I'm officially looking for a new job. My skills are geared for software development. As a director and project manager, I have participated in virtually every part of the software development process, from inception and customer communication/designs to scheduling to coding to QA to tech writing to distribution to support. While I have the technical skill for all of that, I have discovered that my main passion in my professional life is in the management component.

I really love to see people develop and grow in their careers, to help them attain their goals. I want to make sure that each employee looks forward to work every day, which is easier said than done. I see the manager's role as grunt work. I'm the servant that takes care of red tape, boring work, reports, meetings, scheduling problems and personal conflicts. I suck it all up and make it all work so that my employees can focus on what they do best.

So now that I am looking for a new job, my search is very much focused towards the management side. Plus, I need to make sure that I do not take a step back in my career path and return to my work as a full-time programmer. Don't get me wrong, I love programming and I'm freakin' amazing at it but I want to keep my sights on management and not build from the ground up again. Beyond that, I have no idea. There are possibilities of going to China or South Korea, maybe Houston Texas, maybe Vancouver BC... I could write children's books, I could work with people with disabilities, I could teach English, I could get a Teacher's Degree for computer programming... I'm all over the place.

So that's my current employment situation. There's also the amusing detail about living in my parent's house. Now, part of the issue is that I have little savings left and that was originally intended to buy my own house. Beyond that, it's not like I'm a lazy son or something. I pay rent and everything. More importantly, I lived on my own for three and a half years before that and I had some roommates renting from me. When my parents wanted to make to Canada after their three years in South Korea, I had to be the one to represent the family when we bought the house so that necessitated me moving in in advance of them returning.

Mostly, living with my parents is a good thing. My brother and sister are/were living here while they are/were in university so I got to see them all the time. I'm close with both my brother and my sister and I love my parents dearly. There are no crazy rules and we get along well, so it's basically just cheap rent and a daily chef with plenty of love thrown in. I'm fine with moving out but finances are the main hindrance right now.

So that's my employment situation and my living situation. Then there's the minor fact that I'm single. As lonely as some people may find it, it hasn't been that big of a deal for me. I was always a big fan of the Joshua Harris concept. I much prefer the idea of developing a friendship and only dating/courting when the idea of marriage is at least potentially on the table. That approach hasn't worked out well for me 'cause it takes an awful lot of time, a fair bit of emotional investment and some sort of pre-dating commitment from the guy. Lord knows I've tried that a few times. So while I'm a little more cynical about "the one" just appearing in my life, I'm still a romantic about it at heart.

Playing into that, the fact that I'm almost thirty and I'm considering traveling the world has to weigh in. The desire for a family is probably the biggest single reason that I've been living in London for so long, besides the fact that God hasn't directed me anywhere else. (I have talked about missionary work since I was a kid and it's surprising that the rest of my family did it instead of me.) I've long desired to have a family and kids, as my purchase of a minivan can attest. I grew up with a steady stream of foster children in the home and I loved it, especially as I got older. So all of that kicks in here.

So that's job-home-dating. The big cloud hanging over that is the three-oh thing, which bothers me more than I would have expected. (Hence this big ol' blog post.) I'm not too concerned about my career 'cause that'll work out eventually. I just look at this as the second phase in my professional life, like the way that my dad ditched his career at GM and went into pastoral ministry at 30. Everyone changes careers every ten years or so, at least in this modern world of ours. The living arrangements will work themselves out once I get a job or marry or move away. And I'm optimistic about romantic love, if for no other reason than hope itself.

In the meantime, it's not like I'm doing nothing. I have two primary callings in life: music/worship and mentoring/discipleship. I'm heavily involved in music/worship ministry in various places as a percussionist/singer/leader. I have been a member of the Big Brothers program for more than two years. I look for other opportunities for mentoring with my Christian friends and I consistantly spend time with several key friends, plus even more time with a rather larger circle of friends. God is challenging me and changing me in a dozen areas these days. It's great to see Him touching my life and the lives of my friends in real and meangingful ways.

Now I am moving forward to see what the future has in store for me. Good times lie ahead. I better put on some shades 'cause it's going to be bright...