Being Silent

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.  Martin Luther King

I read this quote a few weeks ago and circled it. It continues to weigh on my heart so I know that I must share this. Among the daily hussle and bussle, we all are faced with things that we are passionate about. Things that we pour our heart and life into. For a while now it completely burdens my heart when I hear things like, "just do the job", why do you take it  home? or "just relax, no one really does it that way." As I continue to study for my certification, I hear "you are still a therapist when it's all done? What's the big deal? It won't increase your pay so why are you working so hard for it?"
Clearly this MATTERS to me. I cannot be silent about this when I am confronted with comments like this. I believe very strongly, first, that God brought me to this.  There are easier paths out there, no doubt. I was not put here to simply walk down the easy path or be lazy. Through a very special lady who taught me piano, I have been shown that hard work, dedication, and excellence are a choice. But first and foremost, I also believe that God demands our very best. He DESERVES it. Not our leftovers, but our firstfruits. No only in tithe, but what we are good at.  Aren't we good at it because HE gave us the ability? The talent? The knowledge?
So for the above questions I have been presented lately I guess I'm saying that I continue to press on, but no longer be too quite, too flexible, or too tolerant. A very wise youth director once told me, If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. How true that is! Another popular saying I love but I know can be taken to the extreme: Blessed are the flexible, for they do not get bent out of shape. Well I love that...but have no intention to represent Gumby and not know which way is up.  (Clay maybe but no one is casting the mold except the Lord.)

So this week the challenge stands: DO NOT be silent about the things that matter.

Pay attention: a crude joke that breaks a heart and wounds a spirit, a kind word left unspoken that someone so desperately needs to hear, time with a friend or spouse that needs to be set aside, a book that a child wants read just one more time or like me pouring over books so that I can pour out over my patients and the people in my life. He places the passion in us to simply be an avenue to build relationships and share HIS great name! Be true to who He has made you and the people and things in your life that matter.