Working for a Living... Or was it the other way around?

It's a good thing that I didn't give in to the temptation to get a job this summer.

As I've learned over the past year, having freedom from an eight-to-five is much more than just a big summer break or the path to homelessness.

• Last summer, I was a bit leery about having two months open between CRAM and Sierra Leone, but it turns out that I was uniquely available to help when my friend at camp was diagnosed with cancer and I was able to help take her place.  
• After Sierra Leone, I had time to help out at Joy's House when they were in dire straits in looking for a front desk worker.  Who else could have filled in for two and a half weeks for any hours of the day? 
•  And when my mom got her new job, my making dinner for the family each night took a lot of pressure off.  I could help my dad with house maintenance (and cleaning up after our sump pump overflow).
• Who else had time to drive to Columbus to mow my grandpa's lawn every week when he had hand surgery?

  I thought (probably because everyone around me was telling me) that this couldn't go on and I'd have to get a "real job" for this summer.  I tried (halfheartedly) and it didn't work... and now I know why.
There's an old couple down the street here in Orlando who are getting their house ready to sell.  The wife just had major abdominal surgery and the husband simply can't do all the moving and cleaning that needs to be done.  Good thing I'm not tied up doing " my part for society" like serving that "needed" coffee or selling books.

Isn't that what work really used to be all about?  Someone has a need and someone else fulfills that in exchange for a need of their own being fulfilled.  That couple has money (I've got tuition payments looming) and I have 23-year-old back that can handle all the lifting (they don't).

People tried to tell me that if I didn't get a job I wouldn't be able to provide for myself but the Lord really knows what He's doing.  I did a little number crunching and found that since my last official paycheck I've gotten (from TU for CRAM in June of last year), my overall money has stayed within $200 of the original amount.  I haven't gone up or down in a year!  Those who know me know I'm not really interested in making any kind of profit, and this last year of being available to help when no one else could has been very fulfilling.



It makes me wonder if one could do this indefinitely...