Transition to trades

Via Military Missions Network on Facebook: "Millennials (those born after 1980) face an uncertain, scary future: Student loan debts, healthcare costs, and living expenses are higher than ever, while the postrecession labor market continues to slog. At a time when even some postgraduates from respectable schools are foaming latte milk at minimum wage while under mountains of debt, many millennials are choosing alternative paths such as trade schools that provide job-specific skills in fields as varied as manufacturing, automotive mechanics, and plumbing."

Other points in the article"

• "But some now realize that trade schools can offer advantages that colleges don’t. Lower cost is one."
• "The demand for middle-skill jobs—jobs that require a high-school diploma but not a university degree—is swelling."
• "…middle-skill jobs in manufacturing and the auto industry employ millions of Americans, but employers are finding it increasingly difficult to find good workers who want to do manual labor."

This is supposed to also protect one's livelihood against automation. However, we should keep growing in awareness and understanding so we can figure out the direction of change this world goes through.

Leading a small group discussion?

Here are some elements to help you organize your discussion questions taken from my Your Unfinished Business (available as paperback and Kindle) study guides. They give you different ways to help participants tackle the discussion topic.

• Consider: A warm-up period to help the group start thinking about the discussion topic.
• Understand: Discussion of the key verse and related Bible verses to help the group learn spiritual truths related to the discussion topic.
• Apply: A quotation from the book and related questions to challenge the group to apply what they’ve learned.

Leading a small group Bible or book study?

Here are some tips from my Your Unfinished Business (available as paperback and Kindle) study guides.

• What’s said in the small group stays in the small group. Sharing personal thoughts can be an experience in vulnerability, so help each other by keeping confidences (within legal boundaries of course).
• Not everyone will say much. Sometimes, someone may want to listen more than speak, so don’t create expectations that everyone has to speak all the time.
• But don’t monopolize the discussion either. At times silence can be a useful time for people to think things through.