This past week, one of our field workers brought up a great question. On a Zoom call with me, he asked, “Doug, are there any markers that help us identify people who won’t quit when the going gets tough?” What he was asking was – how do we find and affiliate happy people? How do we attract hardy people? He wanted his team members to be resilient in the face of stress. Are there indicator tests that predict (with a fair amount of certainty) how hardy a particular prospective team member will be? If so, we ought to convey those to our Mobilization or Training teams so they can help us scout out hardy people.

But what about “calling?” Even if a person or family might not score high on a “hardy” profile indicator, what if they’re certain of their calling? If their calling is sure, can they overcome stress simply because they feel they have a God-sized reason for being there?

This conversation left me searching for answers. But I don’t even know if I’m asking the right questions?