I have had a lot of jobs over the last 30 years. I have bussed tables and washed
dishes. I have mopped floors and carried out garbage. I have chopped wood and
stacked lumber. I have shoveled sawdust and pushed a broom. I have substitute
taught every grade from seniors to kindergarteners and every subject from
English literature to Algebra. I have cared for the handicapped in first a group
home and then in my own home. I have worked with my brain. I have worked with my
back. I have worked with my hands. I have worked with my heart. I have done
everything I could to make a living so I could take care of those I love.
During those years of making a living, however, I realized something. I wasn’t
making a life. I was earning money to feed my family, but I wasn’t feeding my
own soul. I was doing enough to keep a roof over our heads, but I wasn’t doing
enough to keep love in our lives. I was working hard to keep clothes on our
backs, but I wasn’t working hard to keep God in our hearts.
When I realized this I slowly began to not only make a living but also to make a
life worth living. I began to pray more. I thanked God for my life and welcomed
Him into my heart. I took more than just a second to glance at a rainbow in the
sky or to watch the sun rise in the morning.
I hugged my children more. I laughed with them more. I told them I loved them
more. I spent more time playing with my dogs and petting my cats. I began to
read more and watch television less. I allowed inspiration from above to take my
own writing in a new direction and I delighted in writing about how much God
loves us. I loved more from the depths of my heart and saw how the more love we
share, the more joy we have. I took the time to help others in every way I could
and to contribute to my community. I did everything I could to become a better
person and along the way I realized that I was helping to build a better world.
In making my life here I saw too that I was also making my life for the
hereafter.
Don’t be so busy making a living then that you forget to make a life. Bring your
love to your days and your joy to your work. Be the Child of God you were meant
to be and delight in this life you were given. Give the glorious gift of YOU to
this world! If you do then you will have a life worth living. If you do you will
have a love worth sharing. If you do you will have a Heavenly happiness in your
soul, today, tomorrow, and forever.
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.