Invaluable

By Janet Morris Grimes –

I realized the other day the year is more than half-way over, and I have made about $200 this year through my writing. Ironically, I have worked harder for that amount than I ever have for any amount in my entire life.

One odd venture was to transcribe old video tapes from The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Not just word for word transcriptions, but sound for sound, even when they talk over each other, all within perfect grammar and spacing.

Those comedians defined humor, but I struggled to spell Tim Allen’s grunting noises or Johnny Carson’s expressions. After hours and hours of reviewing those tapes, my hands were numb and my brain cells echoed each episode after scrutinizing the same show all day long. It is like an extended movie marathon, but with only one episode showing for eight hours at a time, and you can never turn it off.

In my past life, I was never one to make much money, but I could rest in the fact that the harder I worked, the more money I brought in. I knew how to be a good employee. I made a practice of going above and beyond the call of duty, and trusted that they paycheck would just take care of itself.

Life is very different now. In some ways, I feel as if I have been promoted, but without a pay plan.

But I know that God has a plan, and it involves me writing.

But it goes even deeper. His plan requires me to trust in him. His plan knocks me over with unexpected success on some days, while making sure I am prepared to be ignored and overlooked for long periods at a time on most of the others. His plan humbles me daily, causing me to question whether or not I am doing this right. His plan calls for me to show up every day and give Him my best effort, even when it feels like I am accomplishing nothing at all.

More than anything, His plan forces me to find my value in Him.

Because I have made about $200 so far this year, and I am exhausted.

The truth is that I am no longer worth what I was before.

Or, perhaps, I am more valuable than ever before.

I guess it depends on where I find my value.

BIBLE VERSE: “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (I Timothy 4:8 NIV).