Work

Robb is preaching through Genesis again and I couldn't be happier. Ever since Ted dragged us through it in college, requiring a 10 page paper every two weeks, I have had a love affair with this book. I almost died in that class....especially when I found out Ted let Robb read my papers....Ted being the professor, Robb, my brilliant boyfriend, and me...a new follower of Jesus. I learned more in that class than any other in college.

All that to say, I'm happy we are in Genesis again. Robb touched on, for the first, but certainly not the last, how work is not a curse, but rather, part of the dignity of being human. What a redemptive thought that is...that all my work...which is strange work indeed sometimes...has dignity.

I love work. I love it wildly. Though Robb's job takes him for many hours, he drops it at the front door and knows how to relax and be with us. I, on the other hand, am a total workaholic.

In this past week of sorrowing, work has been deeply comforting and satisfying. There is so little in the world that I have any control over. But I can take the broken pieces of something and make it pretty. I can rescue something people think is junk and put it in the hands of someone who values it. I can wield a mop, a paintbrush, a toilet brush, or a spoon like a magic wand. Housework can be monotonous, but it can also be liturgical.

I think God was trying to encourage us through my work this past week: I made several pieces that I very much liked. I picked up my pieces from the editor of At Home Arkansas magazine, which will feature Etsy artists of Arkansas in their June 2009 issue (look for it in 3 weeks) In the gallery, I sold a coffee table as well as some other pieces. My vintage Etsy orders are rolling in fast and furious. And at Barbara's Gardens, I was featured in their tv commercial which aired locally during the Kentucky Derby.

It's a lot to juggle sometimes. But I am grateful for it. Deeply grateful.