On one of my retreat days this past fall, I stooped to pick up a fallen leaf.  I was walking along a path - heart deep into reflection - when the leaf suddenly symbolized all that I had been wrestling with.  Very neatly eaten out of the leaf was a hole, thumbprint size.  The tiny chomp marks of a caterpillar could be easily seen.  My worn spirit looked long at that leaf.  I said to myself, 'I feel like that: eaten up by the work and routine of life.'

Morten Kelsey so wisely states in Reaching for the Real:

"To one person hard work is only pain;

to another it is an opportunity to create something of value."

I seem to be more aware of my feelings about work with its ups and downs.  What causes those feelings?  I'm not really sure, but I know they easily influence my thinking and actions. 

God has called me to work and this way of servanthood away from my home, does not have to destroy me.  Rather, this way of life can create new energy for the kingdom-in-process because I have kept my eyes fixed on the Lord and the joy of intimacy with Him.

"For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too.  And this is the secret:  Christ lives in you.  This gives ou assurance of sharing His glory.  That's why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ's mighty power that works within me."    -Colossians 1:27,29