Tuesday, May 5, 2009

A Body of Work

Good morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! The sun is up, just a few puffy clouds in the sky and the stars are all hidden until night falls! Another beautiful dry day in store for us and we should be grateful for the beauty of it.

We had a busy, running around day yesterday. I don't like to be on the road and in the car so much, but that's the way things work out sometimes. Anyway, I noticed beauty spots on the way; A roseate spoonbill in the lake near home, and peacocks on the way in the park. I walked to the canal and sat on a memorial bench and watched an anhinga try to catch some dragon flies flitting by overhead, then give up and swim toward some tilapia beds near the bank. Looks like the babies are gone as soon as they hatch!

Anyway, the breeze was blowing and the shade was cool, so it was a brief respite in a busy day. God is good!

From the book Quiet Moments with God:

Christ Jesus...gave Himself on our behalf that He might redeem us (Purchase our freedom) from all iniquity and purify for himself a people to be peculiarly his own!
Titus 2:13-14 AMP

Sixty-five years has within it exactly 569,400 hours. If you subtract the number of hours that a person spends growing up and receiving a basic high school education, and then subtract the hours that a person normally spends eating, sleeping, and engaging in recreation, you will still have 134,000 hours for work between the ages of eighteen and sixty five.

That's a lot of time! Yet, many people reach retirement age, look back over their years, and conclude "I was only putting in time and drawing a paycheck."

Take a different approach, starting today. Choose to create a "body of work" with the time that you have!

A body of work is more than a career or a pile of achievements, awards, and accomplishments. A "body" of work is just that-physical and human. A body of work is people.

King David desired to build a great temple for the Lord. The prophet Nathan came to Him with God's Word on the idea: "The Lord declares to you that he will make for you a house." David had in mind mortar and cedar. The Lord had in mind family and relationships! (See 2 Samuel 7).

Get to know the people with whom you work. Spend time with them. Value them. Share experiences with them. Be there when they face crises and when they celebrate milestones. Count your colleagues-and also those above and below you on the organizational ladder-among your friends, and treat them as friends. Build relationships that endure through the years, regardless of who is transferred, promoted, or laid off. People are what will matter to you far more than possessions when you reach your retirement years.

See everything;overlook a a great deal; correct a little.
Pope John XX111

I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!

Love and hugs,
Amaryllis