Once again Frederick Buechner’s words have been ringing in my ears for days- but four words, in particular, have been repeating and repeating for weeks!   “Listen to your life..”
they say…I read them, I hear them, I read them again.  I have been wondering why I have been submersed in these words..why the constant repetition?   And amidst the crazy business of this week… a time when I really had no time to be listening to my life, the short phrase became a dialogue that pried my ears (and eyes) open just a little bit more. In listening, and hearing, I was made aware that God has been doing even more things in my life than I had ever realised.  I have tended, until this week, to listen the parts of my life to which I’ve been attracted.  That certainly limits your hearing – by about 50%, I would guess!   This week, however, my life has spun  off on a completely unexpected tangent and when I listen to the events that have lead to this week, it is so obvious that they are entirely the result of activities to which I was very averse.  God literally lay before me, a visual timeline of my life, with the relevant events popping out in relief.  And was that ever eye-opening!  I’m an introvert by nature, enjoying time by myself more than time with others.  I do enjoy spending a few hours here and there with the people I appreciate, but any longer than that and I get overwhelmed.  Marketing, consequently, was not what I considered to be my calling!  This week, however, a friend and I suddenly decided to go into business – with me being the “business and marketing” side and she being the “creative” side.  Suddenly, those six months spent in a Conferences department, with a lot of time in marketing (which I said I would never do again) is making my own marketing campaign so much more straightforward.  Working as a part-time office manager/ receptionist where you are on FULL TIME, whilst enjoyable, was draining.  You know what though, I realise now that God used that to teach me accounting, time
management,organization, and prioritizing.  He taught me to run a business!  Then, yesterday, I was sitting listening to my husband talk about the printing side of the business (we design and market greeting cards) and the other ball dropped – I married a printer.  A printer!!  Now I get it…it was all part of the plan!  How could I ever have imagined that my husband’s incredible knowledge of printing, colour, and graphic design would bring us together in a business, working with the astonishingly talented and creative Shula Klinger!  (Who, incidentally  I met only a few months ago, through our sons…but that’s another God story!)  I just get breathless thinking about it.

So, from all of this, I hope you too can learn, that God speaks to you in your attractions and your aversions…do yourself a favour and listen carefully to them both.  God really knows what He’s doing, a lot better than you do…just listen and you’ll be in for a much smoother sailing!  At least until the next squall!

All images ©Shula Klinger