Really No Big Deal

Have you ever had those moments where the Lord impresses something greatly upon your heart? You know, the moments where you might try to ignore it, but He keeps bringing them back to you again and again, with each time growing in veracity? God has used working in a secular environment to show me that listening to those "heart stirrings" offers one of the best opportunities to show Him to others.

Working in a public library definitely has its challenges. While the Director and several other coworkers are believers, it isn't exactly somewhere that you can proselytize. After all, the public is there to pick up books on many subjects, not get hit over the head with "you're going to hell" types of messages. So, at the library, we have to be more politically correct and mainstream than I would like....and I didn't think my first job would be in a place like that. Don't get me wrong, it is the greatest first job one can have...you know what I mean ;-)

However, from the beginning, the Lord has used little rays of sunshine to show me that He is bigger than secular institutions. I have a dear Christian coworker (who I call my pseudo-mom) that takes me to lunch quite frequently. We are always on top of the hottest new releases in Christian fiction and non-fiction...and let me tell you, there is nothing quite like seeing moms holding Karen Kingsbury in their hands =)

Yet the Lord has called me to be a witness, even if it is just by the way I dress, act, speak, etc. I do not hide my light and relationship with him under a bushel. It plays a huge part in who I am and frankly, I don't think I could hide it anyway. So, what my coworkers see, it is "the real me"; I am not trying to play "kiss-up" or anything like that. What is funny, most people don't get that.

A coworker of mine just had a major surgery in her family. As you might imagine, it has been weighing on her mind quite frequently and quite heavily. One day, I just felt the need to give her a big hug and tell her I was praying for her. (She is one of those people at work that I can mention "prayer" and "God" and not worry about it coming back to bite me in my personnel file!) Another day, I sent her an e-card, telling her the same thing. Remember, I didn't think anything of what I was doing--it was just something that the Lord impressed upon me...

After the fact, I got the sweetest response from her, thanking me up and down, how she appreciated me, etc. etc. Her words do mean a lot to me, but they weren't neccessary in the least. I know what it feels like to receive a kind word; I was just paying it forward. Goodness, I wonder what she is going to think about the campaign I "spearheaded" to being meals to her once her husband gets home from the hospital?! Again, it was all God--he was only using me.

I don't mean this post as a way of tooting my own horn. I mean it was a challenge to all of you. The next time you feel the Lord tell you to do something, listen and heed immediately. Don't question it, or wonder how it will look to others, or analyze it to death. Trust me, by doing so, you are going to richly bless another person and in turn, you will feel blessed yourself--regardless if you get thanked or not--because you know you did the right thing. You showed HIM and what he will do with that will exceed your wildest dreams