My friend Julie started a new job this week... and it's been an amazing opportunity for me to watch God at work in and through her.
She's working for a company where most everyone is younger (I wonder sometimes about going back to college, or culinary school and am aware i'd be twice everyone else's age), she is in the real world (vs. ministry world) where people are real, different, all over the place in their spiritual journey and many of them take smoke breaks.
Day two of her job Jay and I were missing her and wanted her to know that we were thinking of her, so we put together a care package, with things to help her fit in at her new job. I'm not telling what all we put in the package but I did buy my first pack of cigarettes that day. As I left my boss/pastor in the car, ran to the counter and said, "can i have your cheapest package of cigarettes?" I realized I must have looked like a real strung out smoker... :-)
In my life, I'm mostly hanging out with believers, and this week I've been challenged as I hear Julie's stories about spiritual conversations she's falling in to quite naturally. It makes me long for a little more of that rather than all the conversations I'm in about how to do ministry better.
4 comments:
Ah the cigarette story. Haha. Good one.
As with all things in life, I think there has to be balance. I spent many years in full time ministry, which actually kept me from being involved in a church. Then I went to the secular world, but still didn't get involved in a church. Now, after close to 20 years of not really being connected to a body of believers I'm FINALLY feeling like I have a home.
It IS exciting to be a light in a dark world though, and I even had the privilege of sitting down with someone I had witnessed to for 3 years before he finally gave his life to Christ. But out of all of the people/kids I've witnessed to in my 33 years of being a Christian, he was the only one I ever got to pray the prayer with. It always seemed that I did all the sowing and someone else got to do the reaping. I finally realized about 20 years ago that God calls us to different things...some to sow, some to harvest. So I think it's important to bloom where you're planted. ;o)
I will say that my facebook chatter is much more positive than that of my non-Christian friends and it's made me really grateful that I'm surrounded by so many people who love Jesus.
lol...way to break out of the shell Janet!
Great to read of Julie's new chapter.
That's a shot for the side of a milk carton if I ever saw one ;^)
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