He reminded me constantly that I was smart and I had an obligation to the God that made me to use it. I t was something like the line from Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility." He pounded over and over into me how smart I was, that I was different, and I had better do something with it.
I've worked fast food, production, and then finally settled in to becoming an expert troubleshooter and industrial programmer as well as being skilled at project management. But I never felt like I was living up to my father's level of expectation. I never felt like what I was doing was big enough, meaningful enough.
When I got sick it enabled me to speed up my education and get licensed in counseling. Although I'm only a few years in, I've had to develop some unique tools and unorthodox methods of getting the job done. Being in a remote area with significant needs and few resources, I haven't had the ability to be part of team with psychologists and psychiatrists and in-patent facilities or specialist counselors expert in specific areas. Sometimes I've had to deal with counselees that brought completely new and foreign issues to me. But in many cases they refused to go anywhere else for one reason or another.
I do consult with a mentor periodically and he has admitted that being where I am and very alone I am doing what I need to do to get the job done.
All of this has made me realize that finally what I do feels truly worthwhile and worth everything God has given me to work with..