Hi there! I am writing today to express something that has been on my mind for some time. If you read this blog at all you are seeing some of my story and what I have been through in the recent past. Well this is yet another challenge that I have been facing.
I have been laid off since June of last year. It’s not like I haven’t had things to do though. If I told you all the circumstances it would be mind-blowing. I hope so anyway. It has been a tough time but we are still holding together and making it. Mostly, we are walking out each day in faith, listening very closely for God’s voice, and doing our level best to obey Him. It has been an interesting time as I have learned to be still and hear God’s voice for me. Just a couple of days ago I did something God has been telling me to do for several weeks. I knew what I was supposed to do but was afraid to take action. A couple of days ago I did it! I won’t share it here as it is very personal at the moment but it was a total “leap of faith” if you know what I mean, and I have not yet seen the result of this leap. Yet I know now, more than ever before, that I am right where God wants me to be, healing every day from years of illness, resting in His peace, taking care of my body and mind, and my heart most of all. I am also taking time now to pay attention to things that I never felt like I had time to pay attention to before.
I spent so much time working and chasing the things this world tells me are important that I missed a lot of the things that really matter. I have since slowed down. I was forced to slow down really. But now I am quiet enough on the inside to learn what faith is, to hear the voice of God speak to me through the Bible and through those around me, and to hear Him as He speaks to me directly and guides me and gives me the wisdom I ask for.
What an amazing world we live in! I have learned to be thankful for so many things through this process. Obviously I am thankful to God for restoring my health through wisdom and guidance and the choices we made and are making, the medical system, all of it. I am also thankful for all the blessings of work I have experienced for so long. And this brings me to the point of my post today; work is a gift! I have been working since I was a child. I earned the money to buy my first pair of Levis when I was 10 years old. I worked on farms bailing hay and worked the fields as a young man. I tended the livestock, worked the garden, and learned a lot during those times. And I gained a healthy appreciation for work. As I’ve been mending physically the last 9 months I have found myself missing work, even yearning for all those not-so-obvious things that come from work. We all enjoy a paycheck, benefits, paid time off from working. Sometimes there are work vehicles, work travel, and other perks. But perhaps we don’t slow down to really appreciate that work itself is a gift. The process of doing something every day and feeling accomplishment, providing for our families, the camaraderie at our place of business, all these things are blessings that come from work, serendipities of our efforts whatever they may be. So whether you say “I fight for milk” like Jim Braddock or you go every day for other dreams, be thankful for work because it is a gift!