There was no time to plan. The Covid-19 Pandemic shoved me into working from home much like being tossed overboard with an echoing shout to sink or swim.
I’m not much of a swimmer and my floundring isn’t pretty to watch.

I am tenacious though.

I’m a braillist, employed with a Colorado public school vision team. and for  the first seven weeks I worked out of a corner of my living room. An orange accent wall created a bright, fiery work space when the afternoon sun slipped through the blinds. It was lovely.  It was organized.  And it was quiet, since I was home alone.

But it was the living room.

And I was hearing murmurings that we could be in this for the long haul, with another semester of remote learning staring me down. We were basically winging it this last quarter of the 2019-2020 school year.  Next semester would be different. I would need room for a braille embosser and printer  as well as the Braille Writer, and maybe a book binder. Tactile materials. Braille paper. Binders. Charts. So, I gave my biggest smile to the hubs  – the one where he smiles back and says “Yes, What would you  like me to do?”  I enlisted his help in converting one of the spare bedrooms to an office. The result was better than I hoped for even though I purchased no new furnishings. because I’m still in that happy less-is-more-minimalist-mode.

Except.

The walls were entirely bare. Painted a neutral eggshell.

I may be a minimalist-in-training, but  I still want color in my life.
My sister showed me a lovely canvas with the popular saying “In a world where you can be anything…be kind.” I loved the colorful, rustic look and of course I loved the saying. Kind is a great way to live, and the canvas would be a bold reminder, a permanent post-it note on her wall.
I decided I too wanted to find something that I could look at each day and be reminded of my purpose as I work – my own daily memo. I googled country canvas art/inspirational (’cause that’s my style.)
Today I choose joy.  Hmm. Love that saying  and colorful vases of flowers but…I have it tattoed on my arm.
Thankful, grateful, blessed. The serene, subtle blues and oranges of flowers in an old vase nearly pulled me in. Although I am thankful, grateful and blessed, that message has already been tattoed on my heart.
I kept searching.
And that’s when I found it. The truth I want to be reminded of daily. The message I want my soul to live out.
“In a world where you can be anything … be like Jesus.”

The “be kind” movement is, thankfully, growing in popularity today, but thousands of years ago Jesus lived it out.
And He taught so much more than kindness. He taught forgiveness, love, humility, servanthood, activism, putting others before self, and the value of all humanity regardless of skin color or sex or size or abilities.   He literally humbled Himself and walked in man’s shoes in order to show us the way. He was an advocate for women and children. He came to earth and lived out Micah 6:8

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

One of my life verses.

DO justice. This requires more than prayer, it requires action. And honestly, sometimes I need a reminder each day to use my hands and feet and finances in addition to my cries of the heart.

LOVE KINDNESS. I don’t want to just do nice things – I want to let kindness and love be at the very core of my being. When this is a struggle –  when there are people whose character make love hard –  Christ is the enabling power. The same power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in His people. This is the power to be what I am called to be and do what I was created for. This includes kindness and loving those who do not think or believe as I do.

WALK HUMBLY. Humility as an everyday way of life. It means putting myself in another person’s shoes when I don’t understand. Asking them to explain it to me, to show me my blind spots. Letting go of the need to be “right.” Putting others first.

Yeah, I wanna be like Jesus.

Friends, many of you have been wounded by Christians and want nothing to do with Jesus. I implore you take a deep breath and examine the life of Christ. Christians fail us.  Christians aren’t always Christlike. Don’t let that skew the truth of who Jesus is.

Christ is the perfect role model: Bold, faithful, compassionate, not afraid to hang out with those considered “less than” by society Putting others first. Standing up to bullies.

I’ve got some growing to do.

But in a world where I can be anything? I want to be like Jesus.

(Have you been forced to work f rom home? Has it been a good or stressful experience? Do you have a life verse or favorite quote? Please share.)

Love and blessings,

Marie with a 🙂