Accomplishment

Accomplishment


Proverbs 13: 12


12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.


13 He who scorns instruction will pay for it,
but he who respects a command is rewarded.


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Proverbs 16: 3


3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed.


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After half a century of thought on the subject, I still do not know what my purpose is. I have thought a lot about it because I know we are all supposed to have one. For a long time, I equated my passion as my purpose, but I am not so sure now. My passion is teaching, more specifically, I get passionate about working with students who are transitioning to the new environment and still need a little nurturing and direction. I have come to understand, though, that the education machine is a broken with corruption. Students and parents come in with a sense of entitlement and expect to get a quick and easy "drive-through" product for their money. I am not sure I even want to be here anymore. Sometimes I feel like I have been raped of my integrity.


On the other hand, I know it is not about what I want. I have to trust in the Lord that if HE doesn't want me here, HE will drop another opportunity in my lap. I certainly would not know what to pursue at this point.


Patience is the most difficult lesson for me. If I could work that one problem out, I imagine all of my answers would come to me easily enough.


I hope you have found and live for your purpose everyday!

(Art by Tom Seirak)

Abundance

Joel 2:23

23 Be glad, people of Zion,
rejoice in the LORD your God,
for he has given you
the autumn rains in righteousness.
He sends you abundant showers,
both autumn and spring rains, as before.

24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

25 "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm —
my great army that I sent among you.

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It is all too easy to get caught up in the frustrations of every day life and neglect to notice the abundance of blessings that God has showered upon me. I have a great family and have always felt loved. While I lost my mother many years ago, I am blessed to have Daddy living nearby. I have never had a child or grandchild suffer from a life-threatening disease. I have a pretty good job. In a society where so many people are laid off and losing their homes, my job is a great one. It is all about perspective.

I struggle with making good choices for healthy living, but lack the perseverance of our ancestors who suffered without even shelter sometimes on the promise and faith in an abundant future. If I could learn to bend to God's will a bit more, my grain stores and wine vats would overflow. Until that day, I am sustained by the faith that my stores and vats will be in abundance in the next life.

As for this life, I am thankful for the many blessings God has bestowed on me and mine.

Ability

Sometimes it is difficult to find time to post, but I want to keep this blog live. Hopefully, it will grow some day. I have been writing in a journal called A Spiritual Refreshment for Women: Everyday Blessings Journal (Barbour Publishing, ISBN 978-1-60260-445-2). I got my copy at Walmart.
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The journal provides a daily topic with 2 short scriptures and plenty of room across 2 pages to journal. As an attempt to keep this blog going, I will start posting some of the scriptures and brief thoughts on the topics here. A great place to look up the scriptures in context or in a different translation is Bible Gateway at https://biblegateway.com.

Abilities

Romans 12 : 6-8

6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[b]faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
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I Timothy 4 : 14-15

14Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
15Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.
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There is an organization in Jonesboro called Abilities Unlimited. This organization provides services to and assists so-called disabled people live independently. The title of the organization challenges our idea of what “disabled” means. Everyone has some sort of ability. Abilities are unlimited. An individual’s potential abilities are unlimited. The Bible tells us that we ALL have gifts (special abilities), so the people who are stereotyped as “disabled” are not really disabled at all.


It is easy to SAY we all have a gift of a special ability. It is even easy to BELIEVE we all have a gift of a special ability. I can easily spot these gifts in others, but I am confounded when it comes to identifying my own. It doesn’t seem like I am very good at anything. The people I work with tell me that I am a nurturer, but I think my children would disagree. I try to nurture, but I am not very good at it.
I used to feel like I was pretty good at helping students survive college, but I have come to understand that the only thing I really need to teach them is where to find the appropriate person/office to send complaints. My job is no longer of any real value.


The only thing that I am really good at is making people laugh. I can encourage, comfort, and teach with laughter. Sometimes that means poking fun of myself, but that is okay.

If YOU are smiling, my ability is unlimited.

Imagine each of the daffodils in the picture represent an ability.  Which one is YOURS?