what makes our labour holy?

"What makes our labour holy, what makes it eternal, is not just the work but the state of our hearts while performing that work. When we comprehend that truth, then we realize washing dishes is as significant to the Kingdom as operating on a patient; driving a truck is as eternally triumphant as leading a company. Then, even in the zig-zags of our careers, when life seems more random than ordered, when it feels like we're running in thick mud with heavy boots, we can rest in the knowledge we're serving God as we labour faithfully and diligently."
-- Randy Kilgore, Made to Matter

what if we lived Jesus to each other?

 

A heart convicting article I read this morning (and a reoccurring theme/lesson in my life):

He won't give up on me...
so how can I give up on you? ... What if we lived Jesus to each other?

a portion of the article says:

We are a society of quitters. Estranged parents, abandoned spouses, and spurned friends all can testify. And I myself have added to the suffering, turning aside those who were hurting, disobedient or just confused.

We have all kinds of terms in this society to justify turning people away. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." "God helps those who help themselves," and "The ball is in his court," "I deserve to be happy," and other such nonsense. Will any of those arguments hold up when we come face to face with Him?

God didn’t give up on me. What gives me the right to give up on them?

You can read the complete article at http://redletterbelievers.blogspot.com/2008/01/hound-of-heaven.html

2 articles I read this morning…

This morning I am doing my daily routine… wake up, pour myself a cup of coffee and sit down at my computer to see what gems I will get to read today.  The first article I read touched on a topic I have been pondering off and on, mostly because my kids are of the age when we start to think about what they will do with their life, what career will they have and so on.  The article is “The Passion Trap: How the Search for Your Life’s Work is Making Your Working Life Miserable”.  The article has touched on the idea I have tossed around… do we need a “career” or do we need a means of making money and is there a difference.  This article talks about the advice that has been circulating for some time about finding what your passion is and then finding a job/career that would let you fulfill that passion.  But what I have heard and read is that those who do this quite often lose their passion that they once had. 

The next article I read amazingly also touched on this topic of work (both are from blogs that I read that I have sent to me via email).  But this article called “The Love with which we Perform” shares the story of Brother Lawrence, who learned the lesson “Who we are is not defined by what we do. Our daily work is given to us as a gift from Him, not as the etched nameplate of our identity.”  And it from this kind of thinking that I think I get the idea that maybe we don’t need a “career” per say but a means of making money.  I think the only way we will ever truly feel fulfilled is if we are living with God, in His purposes, listening to Him, following where He may lead us.  :o)

With my kids I haven’t pushed the idea of a career.  What I have been asking them is what kind of life do they want?  Where do they want to live (city, town, in the country)?  Do they want a family?  How do they want to spend their time?  So for example my son Jordan has said he does not want to live in the city at all, he would prefer the country.  He doesn’t want a desk job, he would prefer a job that would have him working outside.  He does not want a job that will make him travel because family is important to him and wouldn’t want to be away from them (we have two family members who work in the oilfield and spend months away).  So by asking these kind of questions, it helps them to see their life as a whole and shows them that their answers will help them find work that will allow them to live where they want and have the life they desire because we are not our careers or our jobs (as we have seen from the Brother Lawrence article). 

And now I have lost my train of thought, so I will stop here.  It was fun to read these two articles back to back.  :o)