In Place or Out?

I work in an office building with an underground parking garage. It's a well-kept building, very clean and tidy. I park whenever possible in the same spot (as many people do). I rarely see trash, but when I do, I'll pick it up and place it in the handy receptacle just outside the elevator vestibule.

Last week though, I noticed a screw on the floor. A bright shiny brand-new screw. Near my Mariner, which is about 18-months old, so there shouldn't be any screws falling from it -- even new-looking screws. I thought it might have fallen from something vital and be needed by someone. So I moved it to the side next to a wall (out of tire range) and left it. I've seen it there every day, a brand-new screw, very capable of holding something together, or even serving as a bit of ornament with its wide shiny head. But somehow it fell out of place -- long before its expected end of service time. Was it in the wrong place at the beginning, not properly tightened or should it have been re-tightened from time to time to ensure permanence in the assigned spot?

How many of us have fallen out of place? How many spots have I been slotted into, but either didn't get the straight start, didn't fit properly or just fell out because I wasn't properly or periodically tightened? In my 50 years I've gone through a few "lives" .. (listed here and deleted on second thought) .. so I wonder .. am I finally in the right spot? Did God mean for me to jump around as I have done in my life? Was I meant to be a stay-in-place solid screw or an itinerant screw, periodically finding a new spot to fill .. a spot where I can be of service or ornament?

What about you? If you were a screw, what would you be holding together and how long? What have you fallen from, and why?

Adjusting

The big move was six months ago today.

We're still adjusting.

But at a company event recently, another couple talked of their adjustment issues .. their move was more welcome, and longer ago, and they're still dealing with adjustment.

So I think we'll survive.

Work is finally  more like the old normal rather than the pressure cooker it has been for the last year. I love what I do, and what our company does for not only our clients but the world as a whole. I suppose I've always been an idealist of sorts: The jobs and activities that give me the most satisfaction are those that are service-oriented: holistic, organic, giving, helping others. The eight months I spent as a shopping mall marketing director were torture, even though I enjoyed parts of the job: deep down inside I knew that luring people to spend money on unnecessary things was wrong for me.

But God had placed me there to learn a bit about about facility management and dealing with those who take care of large places like malls and schools and such. He had a plan.

He has a plan now. I'm willing, Lord, to be part of Your plan.

Sometimes I wish I had a clearer vision of what that is.