Why I love my work

Reason # 1
It may not be my top reason, but it's the first one I'm listing in what may become a series on my work and it's benefits.
I'm a freelance writer. It sounds cool to a lot of people I talk to, but it's also hard. It's hard to find work, hard to keep work, hard to get work done... sometimes even hard to get work started. My income isn't guaranteed and it varies nearly every week.

Despite those drawbacks, I love what do.
And one of the main reasons is that I can do it anywhere.
Today I'm in Indiana. Actually, I've been in Indiana all week. Though I have my own business, I also work part time at my church and the entire staff has been on a planning retreat this week. We're staying at a house in the country, about 45 minutes outside of Indianapolis.

It's beautiful here.
As I write this, I'm sitting on a screen-in porch that allows me to enjoy the sight, sound and smell of the the rain that's been falling off and on all day. My nearly 360 degree view consists of a small pond, cornfields, large expanses of green grass, a barn, several trees, and a couple of cows (if they choose to venture out from the afore-mentioned barn). The air is fresh, the birds sing constantly, the rain water drips off the roof, the leaves of the trees, and into the pond.

Most of the staff drove home today, but I stayed and will drive back tomorrow with a couple of good friends (husband and wife) and their kids. Currently, two of them are sleeping, and two are in the basement playing video games. The mood is relaxed, quiet, and comfortable. There's a Dutch word that perfectly describes the "vibe", but I can never spell it right. Those of you who know it know it's a hard-to-find, impossible-to-fake, blessed feeling.

And as I sit, taking it all in, I've overcome with gratitude for what God's enabled me to do. Two years ago I didn't know if this would work - this whole writing thing. But it's working, and it's glorious. I sometimes feel guilty that I don't work harder than I do. Not that I don't work hard, but I know that if I committed a few more hours a week, I could reach that "tipping point" that would allow my business to be all but self-sustaining.

Still... the guilty feeling is minimal. The dominating feeling right now is gratitude. And that Dutch word that I can never spell.