Well… I finish Link Year in exactly 16 days. That is crazy
to think about. The last year has honestly been a whirlwind and I can’t believe
that it is almost over. This week we have had the opportunity to hear from
Austin Ochs who, believe it or not, is the second to last speaker of the year.
He has been an awesome speaker to have while we are coming down the
homestretch. He actually is speaking on a topic that caused me to come to Link
Year. He is a unique speaker for Link Year, because he works full time in
business whereas most of our speakers work for a ministry of some sort. It has
been really neat hearing him talk about how to run a business that honors God
and is a light to its employees and clients. Last year, I went to the
University of Nebraska for Architectural Engineering. However, I kept being
bothered by the fact that if I went into Engineering, or any kind of business
for that matter, I would not be able to impact the kingdom of God; and if it
was possible to impact God’s kingdom in the work field, I had no idea how.... so I
came to Link Year. Austin has been incredibly helpful in answering this
question. His main focus was on, “How can we live high impact
lives?” The verse he used as his thesis was Ezekiel 22:30 which states:
"I looked for
someone (Character) among them who
would build up the wall (Competence)
and stand before me in the gap (Connection)
on behalf of the land (Commitment) so
I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.”
He explained that in this verse, God was looking for a
person of Character who would honor God, a person of Competence who would
pursue excellence, a person of Connection who would serve people, and a person
of Commitment who steward resources. If
we live with those four virtues, we will be able to answer well the two
greatest questions everyone has to answer before they die: 1) Did I become who
God wanted me to be? 2) Did I do what God wanted me to do?
Austin also broke them down further like this:
Character:
“Character is being.” To live with character and honor God we need truth,
faith, and character.
Competence:
“Competent managers bring Expertise, Innovation, and Discipline to a
Coordinated effort.”
Connection:
“Connected leaders bring Vision, Hope and Courage to a coordinated effort.”
Commitment: “Committed
stewards bring Perspective, Integrity, and Generosity to the LIFE
He went into all those in much more depth, but it would be difficult to share it all on a blog. Austin was an incredible speaker and really challenged me to
live a life of impact. Not to settle or coast through life. More than any other
speaker, he has shown me what it looks like to go impact the world through
whatever platform I am given and gave practical ways of how to do it.
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