homeless. She was living an average comfortable life. It was made even
better when a beautiful baby girl came her way. She and her husband
made sure their daughterhad her needs met and they were still able to
take a yearly vacation by the beach.
Maggie was a partner in her husband's business. They both had a
differentset of duties which kept everything in balance. One day a
devastating blow came to her husband's business, and over a three year
period the business dropped outof site. Her husband had to totally
reinvent himselfand was yearning to fulfill a dream with a new
vocation. She was happy for him and supported him fully, but still the
money was not coming in.
Maggie began to feel guilty that she wasn't contributing with any kind
of income. It had been a long time since she had worked outside the
home and had to work for someone else. Needless to say she was scared
but still had faith that everything would beokay. She began job
hunting and found fillingout applications somewhat difficult,
especially the part askingfor job references. Keep in mind that she
was self-employed with her husband for almost 20 years. It felt as
though that didn't count for anything as she was never called for an
interview.
At the time she was job hunting her mom became more ill than she had
been and ended up in the hospital for a week. Once Maggie's mom
returned home she became her mom's helper one day a week. She did the
shopping, changed sheets, vacuumed and did other things that her
mother was not able to do anymore. Of course her mom would pay her for
her time and labor but she still felt she needed to find another
source of income.
One of the first applications she had filled out finally came through.
She passed the interview with flying colors and was told she was
"exactly" what they were looking for. Although it was only part time
it was exactly what she wanted. It was important for her to be home
when her daughter arrived home from school. She was toldthey would be
in touch when the schedule was ready. Knowing she had the job made her
feel contented and productive again.
Within a few weeks though, she received an e-mail saying that the
company had changed the job into a full time position and she was not
qualified. Maggie was devastated. She felt betrayed and felt she
hadbeen lied to. That evening she was alone asher husband and daughter
had gone out for the night. She welcomed the aloneness and wanted to
drown her sorrows in a hot tub of bubbles.
As she knew she would, she began to cry, softly atfirst just from the
sheer pain of being rejected. Three long years of struggle had finally
caught up with her. Thenshe became angry; angry at everything from the
circumstances that got her there, to God himself.She cried harder and
yelled, "What do you want me to do?" She really felt that God had
abandoned her.
When she was able to cryno more, she became exhausted and gave up. It
was at that moment that a silent idea came to her to offer other
elderly people home care assistance.
Using another talent for computers she printed off some flyers and
cards and distributed them to her church, grocery stores and even
placed a small ad in the newspaper. Within a week she had procured two
new clients.
Now, even though she's not a CEO of a major company or a power player
she feels happy and productive again. So,had God really abandoned her?
Let's look at nature for the lessons and the answer.
Before a butterfly can emerge out of it's chrysalis it has to go
through a lot of struggling. Yes, struggling. Each time it lunges out
to escape, acids are being removed from its wings. If someone were to
come along and break the chrysalis open for it then the butterfly
would die from those acids. In essence the struggle (Jihad) is
necessary for the butterfly to survive. Then in the stillness, when
the struggle (Jihad)is over, the butterfly can come out and share its
beauty with the world.
Moral:We as humans are not any different. There are times that we need
tostruggle (Jihad), to rid ourselves of the acids that make up
sadness, fear, and anger. It is only at this time when we are
exhausted and still that we begin to hear the Universe whisper to us.
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