work

Skip Day

| Marie Griffith

I’m about to do something I haven’t done since I was a teenager.

SKIP SCHOOL!

There’s no Monday School today, y’all!

I’ve worked hard on several projects recently, had a very busy day at work, a meeting afterward, and was unusually late getting home.

I needed to be outside, so my daughter and I went for a walk in the park and had great conversation, while my husband recovered from his own hard day in his comfy chair enjoying the cool air in the house.

I will share this treasure though.

Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in love in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.   1 Corinthians 15:58

Hope Has Feet

| Marie Griffith

Last week I wrote about making headway. Sometimes the headway is painful. Sometimes it’s slow and feels like no headway at all. I used my running journey as an example because lately my running is terrible. My body hurts. I can’t get my breathing right. And my pace is off. Since then I’ve had two fantastic runs!

I came close to talking myself right out of the first one. It was freezing outside when I woke up before the sun. I dreaded the run already and had more time to dread it while my windshield defrosted. I struggled to be positive on my drive to the park, but I ran my goal and it felt great. And I had another good run today. Maybe I have my running groove back.

I do know this: If I hope to be a runner, I have to run. Or sometimes barely jog. Or maybe I alternate walking and running. But I keep at it. I do the work of running. So what if I go through a season of painful off-paced running? I still do it.

It’s that way with anything we hope for.

If we hope to publish a book one day, we make the time to write. We hope to go to grad school, then we find out what it will take and do it. We want to travel, then we do the work of saving and planning. We hope for a good marriage, then we learn to love our spouses the way we want to be loved, and do the hard thing of loving when it’s not easy. We hope for deep friendships, then let’s be the kind of friends that make it possible. Anything we hope for must be worked for.

Hope doesn’t wait around for something to happen. Hope is not an idle wish for things to get better. Hope has feet. Hope compels us to move forward. Toward our goals and dreams, and the people in our lives. Hope moves us patiently and steadily in the direction of all the good things, all the God things our hearts desire.

Even a long season of waiting can be a hopeful and purposeful time of growth. But hope always looks and moves forward.

What is it you hope for? How are you moving toward it? Have you ever lost hope?

Thank you, Joanna Schley, for the sweet photo.

The Take Away

| Marie Griffith

Last week was a a life changer for me. My heart was refreshed, my confidence renewed, and I was reminded of why I do what I do. I attended a conference called Speak Up, a speaking and writing conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I will glean from the abundance of all that was shared at the conference for a long time. There’s still a lot for me to sort through but I know the people I encountered and the knowledge I gained are what impacted me the most.

The People

The most significant take away:  new friends, colleagues, and mentors who want me to succeed and are willing to share their knowledge and help me grow. They not only shared their expertise, they shared the stories of their lives. The kinds of stories that caused hope to grow in our hearts. The conference director, keynote speakers, other writers, an editor with a large publishing house or author of several books. Speaker to thousands or one just starting out. It didn’t matter….all were generous with their knowledge, stories and encouragement.

I was able to participate in a critiquing session at the conference. Authors, publishers, editors or literary agents were given samples of our writing to read aloud. The group then offered encouragement, feedback, and critique of our work. This was the first time professionals evaluated my writing and I’m thankful for the opportunity to hear from them.

The Knowledge

Without even meaning to, I learned a whole new vocabulary last week. I know what a pub board is and what literary agents and acquisition editors do. I learned how important felt need is to a book proposal and the process of a book getting published from beginning to end. I didn’t take the speaking track but I learned so much from those who did during our conversations at lunch or mingling in hallways.

The breakouts were valuable sources of information and practical advice on a variety of topics. I now have a collection of resources I’ll use over and over again as I take my next steps.

But what now?

I Work.

If I do nothing with the knowledge and renewed confidence I’ve gained then my time at the conference is wasted. I’m better equipped to do the work of writing and sharing what I write and what it takes is work. Lots of it.

Having a simple system or plan in place will help me stay focused and disciplined with the work. At least it will make the work more manageable.

Where Are You

Where are you in pursuing the dreams of your heart? What are your gifts and talents? Your work or craft? God gave them to you and they’re meant to be used to offer the world something wonderfully unique.

Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good stewards of God’s various gifts of grace.   1 Peter 4:10

Whatever your craft, passion, or dream – people, knowledge, and work are important influences.

Gather with others who share your passion or those who want to learn your craft. Whether they’re experts or newbies, the ideas and know-how exchanged will be beneficial. Who better to give feedback than someone who knows or wants to know your craft?

Surround yourself with people who believe in and encourage you. It’s important to have others who will remind you of why you do what you do and dream what you dream.

There are lots of ways to get the knowledge you need. Take classes offered at your local college. Join a club or read a book. Ask a master if you can watch and learn. And remember……you can Google and find a You Tube video of almost anything. Make a habit of learning something new about your passion every day.

Now the work.

Practice doesn’t always make perfect but it makes us better. Make time for the doing of your craft. For some of us this means it happens after a full day’s work, dinner, and laundry. A calendared plan will help get you through your low energy levels. This is also when those encouraging friends and mentors will remind you why you do what you do and give you the boost you need to keep at it.

One of the keynote speakers, Bruce Martin, quoted a verse in his talk. My verse. The one I’d underlined and highlighted and starred years ago because it said what I felt so strongly!

But if I say, “I will not mention the Lord
    or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
    a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
    indeed, I cannot.     Jeremiah 20:9

This is why I do what I do. More than with the words I write…..but with my life…..and how I live it. Every part of it. The good parts and the messy ones. My life at home and work. My writing and speaking. Who I am with the people who love me and those who hurt me. Who I am with strangers and friends.

Let our craft, passions, and dreams…….let our entire lives tell of the One who gave them to us.

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

 

Order

| Marie Griffith

I straighten my desk every day before I leave my office so that when I come in the next morning it’s in order. I like a clean slate to begin my work for the day.

But there was no order on my desk when I returned to work from a week long vacation.

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My desk was covered with file folders, reports, notes, invoices and other things to do. My colleagues stacked the work in my inbox and when it was full, they piled the work on my desk.

I enjoyed sorting through the work, crunching the numbers, verifying reports, returning calls and emails…….catching up.

My work as an accountant relies on order and systematic processes.

But my writing does as well. The way I use words and combine them determines how they are read and understood. Do they make sense? Do my words say what I want them to say?

Without order numbers and words are jumbled messes and have no meaning at all.

 

“Why is it that we understand playing the cello will require work, but we attribute writing to the magic of inspiration?”                      Ann Patchett

Love Felt

| Marie Griffith

It was dark when I drove into the park. I thought I was alone until I saw a young man walking on the edge of the parking lot. He wasn’t dressed for exercise.

The backpack he carried looked heavy for his thin frame. I couldn’t see his face but I could tell he was anxious. He was walking around with no direction.

I got out of my car cautiously then thumbed through my Spotify stations and walked on the trail a short way while I readied my running app.

I was relieved when I saw the headlights of a small SUV turn into the park. Then I noticed the young man turn toward the vehicle and walk toward it quickly. The driver didn’t take the time to pull into a parking space. As soon as the vehicle stopped moving, she opened the door, jumped out of the driver’s seat and the two embraced.

I wanted to stop and stare. Was she a young woman? Were they lovers? Friends? Was she his mother or sister?

Instead of staring, I respected the sacredness of their moment and I started my run.

I don’t know how long the two had been separated. However long……was too long.

I know they were both happy to be reunited.

I hope they remember that blessed flash of time, that moment of love felt, when the hard work of loving continues.

Because it is work.

Relationships are the most hallowed work.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

In response to the Daily Post’s Fret

See it Through

| Marie Griffith

In the mid 90s I watched my dad learn a total new way of doing his work. The company he worked for did what most companies did at that time and upgraded the way of doing things to computers and software and transmitting data through the Internet. He’d always used his mechanical pencils, triangular ruler, other items I never knew the names of and his calculator to get the numbers. And he was good at it too. Dad was just fine with his old school ways of estimating.  img_4352

But the bulky computer came anyway. It sat on a hand-built shelf atop Dad’s drafting table. He built the shelf after he accepted the new way.

But it took a while. A long while.

This computer stuff and the email and the downloading files and working out the glitches frustrated my dad. A lot. He thought he was too old to learn the new ways. He thought about quitting. He wanted to give up.

But he didn’t. He stuck with it even when he couldn’t see how it would ever work. And he had that job until the day he died. That job enabled him to work from his home office for years while he cared for Mom. The frustrating technology and new way of doing things that Dad resisted so much at first was the exact blessing he needed later.

Dad stayed the course. He persevered. He stuck it out.

My parents were “see it through” kind of people.

My dad beat his addiction to alcohol. That doesn’t happen if you give up.

Mom stayed with Dad through a lot of painful years of marriage. Fifty-one years don’t happen unless you see it through.

Thank God I have some of that grit too.

Have you hit hard times? Don’t know how you’re going to make it through another day?

Want to give up, give in or quit the whole thing?

See it through my weary friend!  See it through!

“But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”      Hebrews 10:39  NIV 

Summer

| Marie Griffith

imageThis is the first Summer living in my childhood home since I moved out 24 years ago. It’s special to get to be here. So many memories to be remembered that would stay forgotten if I weren’t here.

When I was a girl summer weekends meant hard work. The yard would be mowed, the garden tended, and the house cleaned. Then the best part came in the evening.

A good meal and enjoying our rest after the day’s work. If a late afternoon thunderstorm rolled in and cooled the air, Dad would prop the screen door open. If not, the small air conditioning unit in the window would keep us cool.

imageI walked around the house today enjoying the unearned beauty all around me. The ivy growing in the cedar tree. The day lilies in whites and yellows and oranges. The fruit trees and blackberries and muscadine vines. The Rose of Sharon and gardenia and the magnolia.

All the work of those before me.

 

Summer will always be lightning bugs blinking, cicadas humming, mosquitoes biting.

Tomato sandwiches, homemade ice cream, vegetable dinners.

Afternoon thunderstorms, long days, hot nights.image

 

God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.   Ecclesiastes 3:11 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work

| Marie Griffith

Establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands.  Psalm 90:17 NIV

There are days I like my job. Problems are solved. Questions are answered. I get things done. Learn something new. I feel really good about my work.

Then there are other days. The days I don’t like my job. Solutions to the problems aren’t found. The questions can’t be answered and the piles on my desk remind me of my frustrations more than anything.

And that’s only the work I do for income. There is my work at home, yard work, and volunteer work. Then there’s the work I do pursuing my hobbies. Like writing or running. Some of you paint or build tables or plan parties.

Whatever the kind – work is a big chunk of our lives. It would be ideal if we liked all of our work all of the time. But that’s not how it is. Even if you have a great job that you love, there will be good days and bad days. Productive days and not so much days. Days with happy co-workers and days with grumpy ones. Some of my most challenging work days were when I stayed home with my children!

Your hobby work will produce beautiful masterpieces some days, and other days nothing. The 4 mile run is easy some days, other days the fight for breath is almost too much. The housework is tedious, the yard work strenuous.

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My dad showing the kids how to use a shovel.

Although much of what we face in our work is out of our control, we can choose to do whatever work we are doing excellently and with care.

There is a story of a young mother named Jane. She was in a desperate situation after her husband died suddenly. So desperate that she went down to the river to drown herself. Across the river in a field a young man was plowing with such skill and care that she became absorbed in the sight of it. She stared and stared as the young man worked diligently. Her amazement “turned to thanksgiving, and her thanksgiving to a sense of purpose. She rose, went forth, and lived a long a productive life.”*

A man doing honest work with remarkable care saved Jane’s life.

Do you work like that?

I hope I do. Work is such a significant part of our lives, we should make sure to do it like it matters.

That’s my Live Like It Matters Challenge to you today. Work like it matters.

Think your job doesn’t matter? Too menial? Think no one notices? It matters to someone. It matters more than you know. I was inspired by the work of a garbage man and shared it in The Extra Mile.

No matter the job – you can do it so that it inspires others.

Hairdressers and accountants and drive-thru order takers and pallet makers and bridal dress consultants and process technicians and movie actors and authors and carpenters and lawn care techs and assembly line workers and engineers.

Your work matters. My work matters.

Work like it matters.

“If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets, even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.  He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.”                                                                             Martin Luther King, Jr.

*This story is originally told in Os Guinness’ book The Call and retold by Mark Buchanan in The Rest of God.

In response to the Daily Post’s Vigor.

High Cotton

Image | | Marie Griffith

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The corn has been harvested. The hay has been baled. The dried up corn stalks are tied to lamp posts downtown on Main Street and the square hay bales line the sides of a trailer for a hayride. Scarecrows and Jack-o-lanterns greet the shoppers as they stroll along the brick sidewalks.

But the cotton hasn’t been harvested. Not all of it anyway. It’s snowy white in the fields on my country roads. Before it’s harvested I pull to the side of the road, walk into the field and get a stalk of cotton to place in an old milk jar for a fall decoration in my living room. But I’d better hurry.

IMG_2720The plants are bursting with the fluffy white stuff so the big machines are getting ready to do their work. After the machines roll over the fields all that will be left will be acres and acres of flattened brown stalks which will fade into the landscape. The cotton will be baled into huge rectangles and sit there until trucks pick them up.

I drive past these fields every ordinary day unaware of all that happens there. A family’s livelihood and hard work. Not thinking about what comes from those fields will be made into tee shirts and blankets and warm cozy socks.

We were walkin’ in high cotton,

Old times there are not forgotten,

Those fertile fields are never far away.

    From High Cotton by Alabama

In response to the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge Nostalgia.

 

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