Storehouse: Recognizing Gifts

Our personal storehouses are the products of our hard work and efforts. The traditional farming family would laugh at any other notion of how the storehouse is filled, but they would also recognize that while the storehouse is full as a result of their hard work, it depends on more, too.  Rain.  Sun.  Rich soil.  Insects.  Honey bees.  They all play a vital role in how full the storehouse becomes.

Our own sense of abundance is certainly about what we choose to do with our lives. Integrity, responsibility, dedication and sweat equity matter in the mix of who we are. But, how do I account for the unexpected “accidents” that happen in my life?  A girl comes up to me one day in college and asks me if I’d like to get some lunch together.  34 years later, we have been married for 31 of those years and made a whole life together.  A principal of a school where I was only working temporarily until my “real job” worked out asked me one day if I knew any Latin.  25 years later, teaching Latin and working with people around language, life and meaning is what I love doing.

My storehouse is filled with an abundance that has resulted from my own hard work AND from the unexpected gifts that I could never have anticipated.  There has been an invisible conspiracy in my life towards this abundance that I can only receive with gratitude.

My friend and colleague, Caroline Miklosovic, is fond of saying: “Life gives us so many gifts if we just understand how to unwrap them.  Sometimes, there’s just a lot of tape.”

Indeed! You’ve worked hard.  And you’ve been gifted in unexpected ways.  Can you count them today?

Bob Patrick

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