I must have saved this fortune months ago because I think Panda Express is disgusting, and only go through there when I have no other options. I was moving a notepad, and this fell out of the back of it, reminding me of why I kept it. I have another fortune taped to my phone, “Keep up the good work. You will soon be rewarded.” Never hurts to remind yourself of the endgame. I like rewards.
I also like reminders, which reminds me (oops) that I never got around to putting up my usual mental triggers at this new office. My old standbys and reasoning behind them follow:
James 3:17
New King James Version (NKJV)
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
That’s pretty clearly stated. I keep that one up in front of my eyes to remind me that I always need to check myself. I’m putting that one back up on the computer monitor frame again today because it is timely. There is strength in wisdom, and there is strength in goodness, mercy, and in not being a hypocrite. Lane.
Colossians 3:22-23
New King James Version (NKJV)
22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men
I used to put that one up, tongue in cheek, when I worked for a ministry that paid a pittance, but there is good wisdom there, too. Whatever job I have, I need to work like I am doing it for the highest of purposes. That’s the only way I have a feeling of fulfillment in routine, and it’s the only way to go to bed at night feeling good about myself. I feel better about myself when I work hard.
Proverbs 6:6-9
New King James Version (NKJV)
The Folly of Indolence
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
7 Which, having no captain,
Overseer or ruler,
8 Provides her supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
9 How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep
Again, a reminder that I shouldn’t just be working when someone is watching me. I shouldn’t need to be babysat in order to produce. I should take control of my own destiny, and my own work, and be an ant on the job. I can be a butterfly everywhere else, but at work, I am an ant. Or a bee. But not a grasshopper.
Romans 8:38-39
New King James Version (NKJV)
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And this is the one I never truly understood until I had Thor. It brings me peace and comfort. I’ve banged on and on about how I really don’t know where I stand as far as religion goes, only that I’m sure I like Jesus, and I want to do my best to do things his way. I’ve gone from nothing to zealot, to zen, and this verse has meant something to me in all stages. The first time I read it was in a French science text. Yeah. I know. But after I had translated it, it stuck with me–maybe it was the work involved in the translation? It was mysterious and beautiful, and I repeated it to myself all the time. It became a tattoo on my heart. As a zealot, it made me feel secure and it was hope I tried to throw out to other people. In my current, more meditative state of faith, I stand on it as a promise that if I’ve strayed off horribly, not even my own best efforts can destroy what’s been put into play. I trust that if I’ve gone wrong, I’ll come back around because that’s how I love my son. Nothing, not even his being unsure of me, can separate him from the love I have for him. He’s just stuck.
He could do things to make me not like him much. He could do things to disappoint me. He can certainly go off course, forcing me to correct him, but discipline doesn’t mean I don’t love him. He is just stuck with my love because I grew him, and I wanted him, and he is mine, and nothing can change that. I would fight every angel in heaven and every demon in hell, and nothing could separate him from my love. I put it in there. He doesn’t have to acknowledge it for it to be so.
And that’s got nothing to do with work, but it does remind me that one of the reasons I work is so that Thor will have a comfortable life. I don’t work to serve him on a silver platter, but so that he will have the benefit of the peace that comes with financial security, and so he can take steps up from that place to do better than his father and I have done.
So there’s me reminding me of what I am doing behind a desk. But if anyone asks, you can just tell them they hired me because I’m pretty.
The Outside Lane 