Life is not as idle ore,

But iron dug from central gloom,

And batter'd by the shocks of doom

To shape and use.

              -Tennyson

The Focus:            metal (you)

The Vocation:      a blacksmith (God)

The Tools:            heat, hammer, anvil and a chisel

The Job:               Creating objects of use and purpose out

                            of iron and steel.

The Process:        forging

Forging is the process in which metal is shaped by hammering.  The five basic operations/techniques involved in forging are:

• drawing
• shrinking
• bending
• upsetting
• punching
• (OK, six)...battering

"Battering conveys the idea of a blacksmith putting good metal into right useful shape.  The batterings of God come in commonplace days and in commonplace ways, God is using the anvil to bring us into the shape of the vision." 

                                            --Oswald Chambers

...God's Vision for you and your purpose and use.