So I must confess I have a guilty pleasure. I love to watch Hallmark Channel movies! It doesn’t matter how many times I have seen a movie, each one is like a dear friend to me that I enjoy spending time with again and again.
The up side to this is I regularly intake good, wholesome entertainment that always has a happy ending! I also see the characters overcome adversity, find strength in spite of their human weaknesses, and mend broken relationships. Some rekindle old dreams while others are discovering that change isn’t a bad thing.
The downside of this is that I see these characters in all kinds of jobs that I think I would really love to have, which leaves me feeling discontent. Women who run country inns or bed and breakfasts or are chefs, writers, artists, restaurant owners, bookstore owners, wedding planners, or teachers to name a few.
So for the past few days I have been trying to imagine what my perfect job and life would be if I had no current obligations and money did not need to be a consideration – both the money for any training and/or set up cost and the income from said perfect job to at least maintain my family’s current finances. Because let’s face it, I can’t turn off the satellite service to save the money on that bill – how would I watch the Hallmark channel?!?!?
I would be a writer with degrees in biblical studies that may possibly moonlight as a college professor while also having either a bookstore with a cafe and fun events for the community or an inn, and may here or there conduct public speaking engagements or fill in as a substitute preacher on a Sunday morning. My daily life would include walks in nature, time for yoga (which I have never done but REALLY want to), reading/writing/research time, and time for puttering around my house cleaning, decorating, and cooking amazingly delicious and healthy meals. Phew! Now I can take a breath.
That’s all! Is that really so much to ask for? Lol.
This career path looks absolutely NOTHING like my current job and life. As I have reflected in the past, I made the life choices that brought me to this career path based on a desire to be successful. Unfortunately the definition of successful I used was the world’s definitions instead of God’s.
This realization of what I want to be versus what I currently am leaves me with two choices:
-
Continue to be stressed and bitter about what I wish my life could be, filling my thoughts with regrets and what ifs.
-
Know that God has brought me through everything up till this point and that he will use all of this in some way in my life. I can start making little changes here and there to work towards achieving some or all of these visions for myself trusting in God to bring me to that place to be the person he is calling me to be in His own time.
In my old life I would have probably chosen option number one and made myself miserable allowing the bitterness to steal all of the joy out of my life. But I am a new creation, content to trust in God that he knows the directions he wants my life to go in. So I am choosing option two.
Starting here and now in fact (with this blog post) – because I am writing. And I will use the planner I keep thinking to myself that I should use to schedule time so that I can be more intentional about writing.
I will also add to my prayer journal these petitions to the section on my own person goals and dreams (you know, the one I keep meaning to set up to be more intentional about prayer time). My prayer will be that God takes this vision of what I think I want to be and uses it to help me find out who He wants me to be. And perhaps who I am now is EXACTLY who and what he wants me to be.
Last year I tried the New Years resolution word thing – where you pick a word to describe something you are working on understanding or being in your life. The word I chose was Enough. I wanted to focus on who I am in Jesus Christ and that I am enough exactly as I am.
This coming year I already have my word picked out and it is going to be Intentional. Intentional in my walk with Jesus, intentional in my health goals for myself, intentional in seeking further education in theology and biblical studies, and intentional in developing as a writer.
Perhaps this is a two-year resolution word…
As often happens, while I was trying to get these words out I ran across on Facebook a Bible verse shared by author Sarah Bessey that has put this all into perspective for me today. Isn’t God’s timing perfect?!?!
Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses. – 1 Timothy 6:11-12 (MSG)
Regardless of what my current employment is or my current lifestyle, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if I am an accounting manager or a published author. What matters is how I live my life. Do I chose the ways of the world or do I embrace my citizenship in God’s Kingdom? Am I a humble servant of God that is obedient to God’s will for me?
My discontent over my job is just another worldly distraction. I choose to be grateful I am blessed with employment at all. And I choose to be more intentional about making changes for my future. Counting my blessings daily and enjoying the simple things of God’s creation.
WISDOM WANDERINGS 