"Work is love made visible."

-Kahlil Gibran 

Wholehearted

adj

Complete sincerity and commitment.

Start Quote

Most of us do not consider our work a personal form of worship. 

Work is worldly.

Worship is withdrawing from the world to honor Spirit. 

But could there be a more beautiful way 

to honor the Great Creator than by 

contributing to the re-creation of the world 

through our gifts?

This is what we're called to do each day through our work.

Yet it is very difficult to get even a glimmer of the holy

when we are harassed, unappreciated, 

overwhelmed, frazzled, and burned-out...

"No matter what we do, 

we can make it our ministry...

No matter what form our job or activity takes,

the content is the same as everyone else's;

we are here to minister to human hearts.

If we talk to anyone,

or see anyone,

or even think of anyone,

then we have the opportunity 

to bring more love into the universe...

There is no one whose job is unimportant to God."

-Marianne Williamson 

It's easier to imagine that our work could be our worship

if we could perceive the sacred in how we spend 

at least eight hours of the day.

Perhaps the secret to coming to this awareness, 

no matter what our present circumstances,

is to discover the work we would love to do. 

But until we do, 

we need to learn to love the work we're presently doing. 

Today you can begin to transform 

your workplace and your working style 

by considering how much you have to be grateful for. 

If you have a job, even one you dislike, 

it's a safety net as you take a leap of faith toward your authenticity;

if you're out of work, the path already has been cleared for you 

to answer your authentic calling...

End Quote

My dad told me once, maybe twice, 

that if you're not going to do it with your heart

you might as well not do it at all.

I am so grateful that he told me that, 

because I've been doing it ever since. 

I first remember him telling me this 

when he asked me for a back rub.

I whined and complained, 

and didn't really put any effort into it.

And then he told me that if I'm not going to do it wholeheartedly,

I shouldn't do it at all. 

It snapped me out of that teenage funk,

at least for a moment,

long enough to let the message soak in,

and I'll be forever grateful.

Like if you're only giving service to get worldly recognition,

you might as well not be doing it.

If you're just giving lip service and don't mean anything you say, 

you might as well keep your mouth shut.

Whatever you do, 

do it wholeheartedly. 

***

Gratitude Journal

***

1) Texting. And that everyone has a camera on their phone now.

I promised them a candy if they would get in the hole. 

Yes, I bribe my kids.

 And at first it was great!

Until Chase tried to get out.

Thank you Papa for taking the pictures so I can forever remember those faces.

2) The ocean. Did I tell you that on the morning that we went looking for shells that we saw a pod of dolphins, a sea otter, and a seal. The ocean is one huge place, it's incredible. I wish I could be a mermaid, and that all the sharks were my friends so I wouldn't have to worry about getting eaten.

3) Nap time. 

4) I actually finished a craft! We spent maybe $50 on two huge bags of clothes and a giant box of housewares at this amazing distribution Goodwill center in SLO?...I got a shoe and a glass vase for Riley's room decorations, and instead of just putting them in my craft room to do later, I got out the spray paint and just did it! I won't show you a picture, because it's a pretty poor paint job...I'll never do graffiti, I'm horrible at spray painting. But now she has a gold high heel to hold jewelry, and a pretty gold and pink vase with flowers...Yay!

5) Robbie got me a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils. He's adorable. You've Got Mail, just in case you didn't get it. Sure, my kids have tried to stab each other with them, and tried to sneak them to color on the walls, but ya' know. 

September 5th - Job, Carrer, or Calling

Start Quote

There is a significant difference between

a job, a career, and a calling.

Jobs are what we do to keep bodies, souls, and families together.

But as Studs Terkel wisely points out...

daily meaning is as important as daily bread,

and recognition as necessary as cash. 

For when we work, we are searching "for a sort of life 

rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying."

One of the people Studs Terkel interviewed was Nora Watson...

[who said] "I think most of us are looking for a calling, not a job.

Most of us, like the assembly line worker, 

have jobs that are too small for our spirit. 

Jobs are not big enough for people."

But jobs are crucial;

we need to "earn a living,"

which becomes more difficult each day 

in the uncertain economic climate of the 1990s. 

A career can be a calling, 

but not necessarily. 

Usually a career occurs when we stick to an occupational path

- accounting, advertising, nursing, publishing - 

because we do what we do quite well and get paid for doing it.

Sometimes careers resemble long-standing marriages 

in which passion is exchanged for comfort, security, 

and predictability in an uncertain world. 

Of course, there is nothing wrong with this choice;

for many women it is absolutely the right one 

- though some may wonder what psychic price 

is being exacted for playing it safe...

Many of us eventually move from jobs to careers,

but often we hesitate to answer an authentic calling...

because we're torn - 

between the financial realities of raising children 

and caring for aging parents, 

between a proven track record and the unknown, 

between a regular paycheck and uncertainty,

 between circumstance and creative choice.

But it's a mistake to accept as our reality 

the illusion that many are called to fulfillment 

but few are chosen...

The truth is, we're all chosen...

Novelist Mary Morris tells us that 

"Pursuing what you want to do and achieving your goal 

is not like finding the burning bush or discovering a gold mine. 

There are usually no epiphanies, 

no sudden reversals of fortune...

Fullfilment comes in many guises, 

and it can come to us in our lives at any time...

But only we can make sure we will be fulfilled. 

If we feel empty, no amount of water can fill our well. 

It has to come from within, 

from the underground springs and streams."

End Quote

In the next couple of days 

we're going to talk more about this. 

I know what my calling is. 

My calling is to be a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, 

and eventually a physical therapist. 

I count myself very lucky and very blessed 

that I get to live my callings. 

And I'm doing everything in my power

to make sure my husband, my family, and my friends

get to find and live theirs too.

***

Gratitude Journal

***

1) A washer and dryer. I have done at least four loads of laundry, and have at least 3 to go, on top of our normal stuff. If I had to do it all by hand I might just go crazy.

2) Oxiclean and Odoban. 

3) Bed time. I'm so excited, I'm ready to put that last load in the dryer and get my butt to bed.

4) My Purple mattress. This was the first year that going camping I wasn't able to sleep well on the air mattress. I don't know if it was because it was almost unbearably hot for being at the beach, or if I just missed my mattress. I slept so well last night, and I can't wait to get back to it.

5) Good TV, it makes doing laundry so much more bearable. 

September 4th - A Higher Calling

"Your work is to discover your work 

and then with all your heart to give yourself to it."

-Buddha 

Sarah took a vacation to an Episcopal convent 

for a weekend of prayer, silence and working with the nuns. 

Not exactly my idea of a vacation, 

but to each his own.

She tells us today about a conversation she had 

with a nun in confession about how she was brought up Catholic 

and thought that maybe she was supped to have been a nun.

Start Quote

[I] admitted in the golden autumn sunlight of the convent garden 

that I now believed I had been blessed with a calling,

but that I had said "no" to God.

My sorrow was not because I had chosen 

not to take a certain path in life,

but because I hadn't even had the courage 

to consider the road less traveled.

Now it was too late.

She in turn confided that she sometimes wondered 

if she could have served God better in the world 

as a wife and mother.

"But when our hearts are open,

Providence makes straight our path,"

she reassured me.

Then she asked quietly:

"Why do you assume that you have not already 

answered God's call?

God needs mothers.

God needs writers. 

There must be some special work that 

only you can bring into the world for God."...

As I draw closer to finishing this book, my home has become a cloister, my passion my calling, my work personal worship...

Today realize that Spirit has no hands, head, or heart like yours. 

No other woman on earth can do what you alone are called to do,

can give to the world what you alone were sent to give through your authentic gifts. 

the call may be so faint you can barely make out the message, but if you listen, you will hear it.

End Quote

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Gratitude Journal

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1) The beach

2) Safe travels

3) Good family

4) Baby powder

5) Fabulous sunrises