Once Upon A Time To Happily Ever After…

Once Upon A Time To Happily Ever After…

Once upon a time, I was employed. I loved my job! Then, seemingly out of nowhere, I was asked to take an early retirement. “…and we are prepared to offer you a generous severance package.”

Huh? I heard the devastating words which instantly filled me with the nausea of turbulent thoughts. The order inside my head, till only a moment ago linked arm-in-arm, now lay in a pool of projectile vomiting around my shoes. And I had to gingerly step around this mess to get to a place of sense and sensibility again. This would take awhile.

Focusing in on the positives helped. For over ten years, I was employed in a position that rewarded my natural instincts for buying well, and selling with conviction. My investment portfolio was not stunning, but it was reasonably healthy. My lifestyle was not extravagant, but thankfully perky enough with goodness inundated with laughter and intimacy.

Of course, living with the devastation of lost wages taunted me a few times. “Today, you lost $____, net pay. By the end of the week, you will have lost $____, net pay.” The dampness of cold sweat misting over me felt sticky.

So much to think about! After a few days, I had to deliberately shift my thinking gears down from the vigorous and robust clatter, to a soothing idle rhythm. I focused on the words I memorized a long time ago, “Walk placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.”

And in this quiet place, I began to journal the chronicles of my predicament.

Before too long, I received a generous offer from a large manufacturer who believed in my work ethics. He wooed me shamelessly. The attention was flattering, but the pressure to join them was not pretty. Everything in me leaned so far away from the competitive business world that one small sneeze in my direction would have landed me flat on my back, legs splayed unattractively.

But, was I being financially irresponsible?

I never went back to work. It’s been six years now, and I am delighted to announce that I am financially responsible. Retirement is sweet for me because my comings and my goings are brilliantly productive. My new C.E.O. has seen to that! Even if He is invisible to my eyes, He has carved these words in my heart with perfect deliberation, “Love Him, love others, and serve joyfully using my spiritual gifts.”

The simplicity of God’s truth continues to lead me daily. His visions have become my visions to pursue. I sit snugly in the palm of His right hand, and He takes me on holy adventures way beyond my power of understanding. Each one makes that chapter of my life read like a lovely fairy tale ending, complete with

“happily ever after.” The End.