We got back this week from a long, busy family trip, and amid all the work of settling-back-in, I think I needed to receive my marching orders again. I was sitting gloomily at my kitchen table one night earlier this week filling out a hundred to-do’s and be-there’s and need-to’s in my planner, when I stumbled across this quote on an upcoming page:
This job has been given me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.” -Elisabeth Elliot
There was so much in this quote for me.
I think that there is a foundational, deep-in-your-gut kind of joy that comes from knowing that you’re doing what you think God wants you to be doing. As much as I sometimes fantasize about going back to work as a public relations diva, or just working part time outside of the home, or jumping in the van after a rough day and driving to the beach…I know I’m where God wants me. And that gives me a lot of peace.
But…I have to re-accept this plan of God for me more often than I’d like to admit. I have to give my little Erin fiat over and over and over again to this life that God has filled with this particular husband and these particular children and this particular set of blessings and crosses and temptations.
Here, not somewhere else, is where I am learning God’s way. And by that, I mean God’s way for me to be closest to Him. He has oriented the setup of my life so that I am blessed and challenged in all the ways I personally need in order to grow closest to Him.
And now I just need to remember All of That the next time I want sneak into the bathroom with my phone and a bag of chocolate chips and look up cheap Airbnb deals at the beach…
Maybe I need to delete that Airbnb app and instead look through recent photos on my iPhone. Somehow, I always find a little extra joy looking back at those moments in my family life that were actually pretty joyful.:)
Me and my precious daughters
This baby…
Dinnertime kisses
Beautiful quote! Thanks so much for sharing. I definitely relate and need to remind myself often that this is where I meet God & grow closer to Him… right here & now in the midst of life not going as I had quite planned 😉 I’m going to hopefully put the quote up somewhere to remind myself! Thx again. Much love!
Gosh I needed this. Thank you.
What a great quote, it’s exactly what I need at the moment. Recently I have been feeling very restless and after living in my own place for 12 years I am mulling over throwing up the sign and ‘getting out of Dodge’ as an old neighbor of mine used to say. That phrase has always said to me that I am trying to dodge something and I knew I am tired of homeownership and the idea of an old place that is going to have problems almost as a guarantee, as 40 year old places tend to create, has me thinking of finding something safer. There are a bunch of financial reasons to move to a place that will cost a lot more. But I will leave a few things that give my life better quality, mindfulness, and meaning. Plus a dog, that like you, I feel like might not be meant for me. But, I can’t find a good home for her yet so I don’t feel comfortable with my options. I’m not sure I have found the instant answer that I’m looking for in the prayer you quoted, but I’m going to meditate on it for a few days and see what comes of that. Thank you very much for this post that is showing me what I can do to get things done well for everyone.