So What do you do????

I really don’t like small talk. This isn’t new I’ve always strived to avoid it as much as I can.  It is rare when I will actually talk to someone at all before I can see where the common ground is so that I can skip past the generic small talk phase of a relationship.  One thing about small talk that I’ve realized recently is that one of the earliest questions people ask is “So what do you do?”  I don’t think I ever noticed before because I always had an easy answer.  Growing up I was a student, for a while after graduation I was a nanny, and after that I was a car insurance agent.  Now my answer to this question has become “Well I .   .   . um, so I was, .  .  . but now I might.   .   . but then after that I don’t know.  .  . so um well yeah”

Ha, ha I’ve never loved small talk, and have always been a little awkward with it, but I don’t say “Um” I’m quick to answer, often too quick.   However, now a question that inevitably comes up with in the first few minutes of meeting a new person or reconnecting with an old acquaintance has become one that I cannot easily answer. 

I still am adept at avoiding small talk so it doesn’t come up terrible often, but I’m starting to think that maybe rather than avoiding the questions I may be able to use this question to tear past small talk.  My answer to this question does not fit into the normal small talk category during this phase of life.  Someday I might have a simple answer again, but at least now during this time of change I do not have an easy answer.  Yet I do have an answer. 

It’s a better answer than any I have ever had before

“So what do you do?” 

“Well I’ve taken a path that isn’t completely clear because I’m seeking the Lord’s will for my life.  I recently quit a job in corporate America because I knew it wasn’t what I was called to do, and I realized there had to be more out there.  I’ll be working at a Christian summer camp starting at the end of May with either their Day Camp or Counselor in training program (Waiting to hear which one) and after that I don’t know.  I’m learning to be ok with not knowing because the Lord is teaching me to trust Him for the future.”

Suddenly a question that has been thrown into the realm of small talk on par with “How’s the weather out there?” or “What’s your name?” is a question that I can answer, not with a title that tells someone nothing about who I am, but with a testimony of the Lord’s work in my life.   Who knows maybe figuring this out will help me get over my hatred of small talk?