My move to the insurance world after almost 30 years of vocational ministry was not nearly as radical a career move as I sensed it was going to be. The insurance world is similar, in many ways, to ministry. As an agency you offer “peace of mind.” As an adjuster you offer remedy for loss. As a restoration professional you help affect this remedy.

One of the basic functions of property insurance is indemnification. That is the notion of restoration to a pre-loss condition. Hmmm, sounds like what I was helping to facilitate as a pastor, only it was mainly in the spiritual sphere as opposed to the physical sphere. My work with ServiceMaster in Euless, Texas, was a part of this process. We were a mitigation company, and a very fine one. Mitigation is the notion, in a sense, of stopping things from getting worse whether it is the affects of unwanted water or acid gasses from a fire or a myriad of odors. We also performed mold remediation. Remediation means to remedy or cure. And, we partnered with some fine companies who remodeled or rebuilt or restored damaged properties. We all worked together to restore what was damaged. All of these elements of property restoration have direct personal emotional/spiritual implications to all of us. We all need indemnification. We all need restoration. We are all affected by hurtful loss. We are all affected by mold/fungus (called “mildew” in the Old Testament and “leaven” in the New Testament. I will have a separate teaching on this soon). We all need mitigation to help in stopping ongoing damage. We all need “life” insurance and “fire” insurance. Little did I know that my ministry would continue as I became involved in the insurance world. Now, couple that with the fact that our work most always involves hurting or wounded people, those whose lives which have been adversely affected by a loss. Whatever your role, you play a significant part in people’s lives. You should take this seriously. Insurance, after all, offers something very important, “Peace of Mind.” You are called an insurance professional for a reason. A professional is someone who “professes.” A person will “profess” what they first believe in their heart. It is not a reach to believe that the very best professionals are those who have a sense of calling. Do you? In my experience the insurance professionals with whom I have worked (I have worked with thousands) who have a sense of calling to help people were the best insurance professionals. One of the reasons I established Master Your Disaster is to help you be the best you can be, both personally and professionally, and to help hurting people.

Terry Sutton is freelance writer and speaker and is the president of Terry Sutton Consulting, Inc., dba Master Your Disaster, a 501(C)3 non-profit. He is a frequent speaker on all types of restoration and, recently, on dealing with those affected by hoarding disorder. In December 2017 he relocated from the DFW area to northwest Florida.