Some years ago I found myself saying the same phrase a lot “my quality of life is more tied who I’m becoming than what I have or what I’m accomplishing.”
This morning I shared with a friend that I learned, back when I was serving tables in high school, that I was more interested in talking to the table about the food they were ordering and the wine they were picking than turning the table quickly to make more money. In college, when I was delivering pizzas (without a cell phone!), I was more interested in the cassette tapes I was listening to than delivering pizzas faster so I could pick up more tips.
I’ve never been very motivated by money.
But I have always had a deep desire to live meaningfully. I truly love that our God has made us each unique and with intention. That the world needs the things we have to offer. Work is not a necessary evil, it’s the opportunity to contribute to the general flourishing of creation.
This past Sunday we paused for a minute on the fact that when God made the world and put humanity in it, he set them to work. The garden needed a caretaker, and rather than do it himself, God gave the job to Even and Adam. Jesus expands on that principle in the kingdom parable of the talents when he says the master gives to each of his servants “according to their ability.” Then, when those servants put their ability to work Jesus says the master responds “the one who is faithful with a little, will be faithful with much.”
Amidst all the brokenness of the world, I maintain a living hope because the significance of my life is affirmed in the Gospel. What’s more, I have seen it to be true: the one who is faithful with a little is often entrusted with much.
terazzo, coffee, and kids 