Our society makes it so easy to loose perspective of the bigger picture. There are so many with so much less - and each of us are sincerely precious...
I have friends who are achieving there dreams and are following their hearts. I have friends who are stunningly beautiful and remarkably talented.
I have watched B follow her instincts as a mother and citizen, even against judgments, and thrive with them. I have watched her teach herself how to successfully garden, sew and run her own on line business within a year - and all in a way that only supports and encourages her way of life. And now I see her opening a studio for movement.
DJ
(I'll call her) has always excelled at whatever she puts her hand to. She
has ridden horses bareback in the ocean - a dream her and I laughed about when much younger. She has run successful triathons, she cross-stitches, quilts, and sews... including the outfits for the drill team she rides her horse with. She has a voice that is to be adored and is talented with the piano and guitar, and is in the midst of seeing those dreams come to life too.
I have siblings that excell in their lives, follow their dreams and convictions, who's love for people and God are known to all who know them, whom just the mere thought of make me burst with pride.
I have incredible neices and nephews, each with talents that truly astound me. I have cousins, and cousin's kids, that are also standing their ground in a messed up society, following their dreams and impacting those who are around them in positive ways. How I wish I had the articulation, time and space to showcase each of them!
I am truly thrilled for them and only desire to see them continue on!
Yet, I humbly confess that I am also battling very ugly and shameful emotions of jealousy, and helplessness, as I am yet another year older and have not seen my, much more humble, goals materialize... never mind my more 'prestigous' ones!
Haha, perhaps its a mid-life crisis...
(as I shake my head at myself and laugh a little)So, when I read my Aunt's blog this morning I did so with tears. Thank you Aunty Eulene for you faithful example over the years, and thank you for your obedience. We serve a God Who has remarkable timing, and Who works the little details just as well as the big! Here is some of what she wrote
(you can follow the link in "Letters of Hope" at the bottom to read more):
“One day in Edinburgh, as the new minister was making his initial calls, he called at the cobbler’s shop. He talked loftily to the cobbler, as preachers are sometimes wont to do when certain fits of stupidity possess us! When the cobbler answered back, the preacher in astonishment said, ‘Man, you should not be cobbling shoes; you, a man with such thoughts and such a manner of expressing those thoughts! You should not be doing secular work!’
“’But,’ the cobbler replied, ‘I am not doing secular work. Do you see that pair of shoes there?’
“’I do.’
“’They belong to Widow Smith’s son. Her husband died in the summer. She nearly died too, but she was kept alive by her boy. Now her boy has a paper route to help the widow keep the roof overtheir heads. The bad weather is coming on, and God Almighty said to me, ‘Will you cobble WidowSmith’s boy’s shoes so that he won’t catch pneumonia and die this winter?’ And I said, ‘I will!’
“’Now you preach your sermons under God Almighty’s direction, as I trust you may, and I will cobble Widow Smith’s boy’s shoes under God Almighty’s direction. And in the day when the rewards are given out, He will say to you and to me the same sentence, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’”
(Walter Binwell Hinson, from ‘Traveling Toward Sunrise‘)...
Standing at the kitchen sink one day, wondering about all the ’secular’ things we seem compelled to do when there are so many ’spiritual’ things we might rather be doing, the Word was strongly impressed upon me that “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and THE LIFE THAT I NOW LIVE, I live in faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” It is in the life that we now live, that Christ desires to manifest Himself. (Gal.2:20) ..."Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I start my day with the kindergarten kids with two songs:"This is the day that the Lord has made,
I will rejoice and be glad in it."
and "
Rise and shine and give God the glory."
It has been a bit profound how helpful that is, and how I catch myself fighting tears as Jesus' Spirit ministers to me through children's books and songs.
I also often encourage the kids by reminding them that
"
WHATEVER your hand finds to do, do with your WHOLE heart ...whether that is printing letters, plunging the plugged toilet or ruling a nation!"
The students that are easiest to work with and teach are not those continually upset because they aren't reaching the perfection they desire, and neither is it those who just want to do just enough to get by, it is those who try their very best and are content with that.
One day the other aid and myself were working with grade one. A sweet little girl had her turn to write on the easel, she stepped forward with a tilt of her head, printed the problem, and stepped back admiring her work. The aid told her that it was good, however one number was backwards. She very confidently answered back, "Yes, but it is beautiful!". How I laughed!I often then think to myself, this is how God must feel. Here I am being all pouty and miserable because I am not achieving what is in my heart to achieve, and He is sitting there saying "Don't worry! Just do your best, that is all I desire!"
I may not
excell at anything I do, but I must believe that if I simply do whatever is placed before me to do with all my heart, then I am not missing out, messing up, or being a poor steward of the few short years I am given.
So I will gladly be the audience of greatness, I will applaud integrity, perseverence, dream fulfillments and hard work. I will seek out ways to be the 'wind beneath your wings'. And I will see God in each person, unique, creative and beautiful, giving Him the recognition and praise.
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