Different seasons, different hats, same person

I recently came across a book written by Donald Miller.  It is a business and marketing book.  Since Miller is a common last name, I figured it couldn't be the same Donald Miller who wrote, "Blue Like Jazz," which was a best-selling spiritual memoir he wrote years ago.  I read it and remember liking it and thinking of him as more the artsy type.  A true seeker of Christ.

So when I discovered that the marketing book was written by the same Donald Miller, I coudn't wrap my brain around it.

I simply could not see him in that light.  

He was a spiritual writer, and now he's writing business/marketing plans?!  The two just don't coincide in my thinking.

Even if he has chosen to "reinvent" himself, which is very popular these days, that is quite a switch.

So it should come as no surprise that those who know me in my "day job" as an administrative professional cannot see me as the artist that I also am.

Hats.

Some of us wear very disparate ones out of necessity.

Donald Miller will always be that artsy, spiritually-minded person in my mind.  That was my first "intro" to him so I guess first impressions really do matter.  It's not that a businessman cannot also be spiritual.  But I guess in my mind, it would be like Henri Nouwen suddenly writing a book about a marketing plan.  It just wouldn't fit. 

I'm sure there are those who can't get past my "business" self (that hat doned out of financial need), and my artist self.  And that's ok.  I get it now.

And the same holds true for the opposite.  There will be those who know me as an artist who are wondering why the heck I am working an admin job.

All I can say is thank God that He sees all of me.  He sees all of Donald. He knows all the ins and outs, the whys and whens.  

The apostle Paul made tents for a living at one point.  He was still Super Apostle Paul!  Writer, orator, and zealot for Jesus.  But even Paul needed to eat!

So I need to afford others the same leeway that I would like to receive from them.  People are many things, do many things.  They are so much more than their job title or books they write.

There are seasons in life and not all look the same for some of us.

So God bless Donald Miller in wearing his new "hat" of businessman, coach, and marketing guru.  I'm sure there is much more to him than his job title anyway.  Like you.  Like me.

Dear Lord.  Thank You for knowing me fully.  Thank You for taking me through seasons where the "hat" that I need to wear isn't the best fit, but still works.  Thank You that You always see me as more than my job title and my "output."  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.