With No Apologies

SHOULD I apologize for liking my career, Lord?

I've had inklings that I expected to dislike working. Some women pity me because my house and yard resemble a junk shop and I can't attend the neighborhook coffees and luncheons. They shake their heads at my time-clock schedule. They think I couldn't possibly enjoy such an existence.

Sure, I have days when everything goes wrong and I question whether this is a calling or a sentence in a forced labor camp. However, when the boss is grumpy, customers are unreasonable and auditors are looking over my shoulder, I remember comparable days when I worked solely at home. Those days were not without disasters, interruptions and stresses.

Thank you for showing me the joys of each of the different businesses I've worked in. I especially appreciate the way I'm treated by my peers. (My family would be surprised to know that I'm respected at the office.) Requests for my assistance are made politely and are addressed to my given name. I feel like a member of a team and not a quarterback without anyone to pass to.

No, I won't apologize for liking my careers. I feel my work as a wife, a mother, a homemaker, a writer, and a secretary are all important.

Lord, thank you for giving me the gifts to use in these various capacities. What I have I must use, and no matter what anyone else thinks, I won't apologize. I like who I am and what I do at least ninety percent of the time.

Marlene Obie