The Building
I was visiting my parents and helping out by taking my dad to a doctor’s appointment. This particular doctor had just moved into a recently renovated building.
The rather large building was now home to several different medical practices. It used to be a manufacturing plant where they made men’s suits.
That building. That very building and the business that used to be in it was the very reason my parents packed up their lives 45 years ago and moved us from Staunton, VA to Whiteville, NC.
My dad was the Quality Manager at this plant. He learned to be a tailor when he was very young in Italy.
Now at 91, as he slowly walked through the building, he reflected on his time there. He told me all about how it used to be.
When we got to a certain spot, he stopped. He moved his arms out wide to outline an area and said, “This is where my office was. Of course,” he continued. “I didn’t spend much time in it.”
The experience was quite surreal for me. I could almost see the hustle and bustle that was going through his mind.
His job brought him there, but it wasn’t his job that kept him there. God had other plans.
My parents would end up opening an Italian Restaurant that introduced the small town to real Italian food and the best stromboli ever. Just ask the people there, who still call them both, “Mamma Rita.”
As I pondered this more, I thought about how our jobs are not the end all be all. Life is a series of opportunities that invite us to learn, to grow and to become more of who we are created to be – sharing goodness along the way, like my dad does when he graciously thanks each doctor, nurse, intern and receptionist.
Jobs will come and go.
Our real work, I believe, is the building that happens on the inside.
It’s about building our faith, our trust and our relationship with the One who will always be there.
Thankfully, we too can be renovated, renewed and used for another purpose - His purpose.
He has already laid the foundation.
Wow . . .
“It’s the kingdom within.”
Here’s to more WOW Moments!
❤️ Lucy