{Shannon, in the pink dress, with her siblings}
When I was in my senior year of high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career. I knew I wanted to work with my hands but had a tough time finding something that I really thought I’d enjoy. In God’s sovereignty, I discovered the career of watchmaking (a longer story), went to school to study it for two years, and just graduated in July of 2025. It was the most interesting and difficult two years of my life so far, but I learned so much about God and his character through the career itself.
Watchmaking requires an incredible amount of patience because we’re working with minuscule pieces and parts. One part in every mechanical watch is called a hairspring because it is close to the width of a human hair, and in school I spent hours and days working on these pieces to bend and shape them to where they could work properly. I would often work on the same tiny hairspring for a very long period of time to perfect it.
Working on something this delicate and fragile reminded me of the patience and dedication that God has as he is working on me. I am a hairspring that God is gently and slowly bending and shaping to be more like Jesus. I can often grow impatient with myself and be quick to see how much I sin and what I wish I could change about myself. But God, in his infinite patience, does not give up on me when I sin. He is not afraid of my failings or surprised when I confess a certain sin and then commit it over and over again. He is eager and quick to forgive us, and because of Christ’s shed blood on our behalf, he does not hold our sins against us!
Watchmaking has also taught me that each part is carefully made and placed exactly where it is supposed to go. In school, I had to make a few different parts of a watch, and it took me months to carefully cut and file and shape the pieces. When I finished making them, it was incredible to see them in their places, all working together to make the watch run properly.
Similarly, God has such deep care and intentionality in the ways he created us and the work spaces, families, and groups that he has placed us in. We are not in a place that God does not want us to be in, and we aren’t supposed to be or look like a different part of the body of Christ. We are all precious and important components to God’s plan, and he is using our differences and gifts to be used for his glory!
I am so thankful to God for the opportunity to be a watchmaker, but I am more thankful that he is my Maker and has patience, care, and purpose for every part of our lives.
