Over and Under

If I had not come home and kissed my wife...
If I had not come home and hugged my kids...
If I had not warmly greeted my mom after her long day at work...
If I had not smiled at the neighbor kids...
If I had not meet with God today...

...I still would have lived my faith and love someone in need.

Today I had a "meeting" with someone who works for me. She is an an older women (read: past her 30's) I recently hired to work on one of the teams I supervise. She was upset about her schedule (or lack there of really.) In the next two weeks she is only working two shifts! This is a function of the business we are in and really out of my control.

This women is educated, pursing a Master of Divinity in order to be certified to do jail ministry (God bless her)! She has been ostracized by her family for here choice to share God's grace with the very people she was abused by as a child. This choice or calling has currently left her trained to do few jobs in the world at which one can make a living wage.

In our meeting there were tears and the need for tissues. She just needed to vent about her life a bit and share her desperate need for more hours. Seemingly, she lives on the edge of financial ruin like most student ministers. Homelessness, hunger and an empty gas tank are real possibilities for her near future, she told me. Not to mention failed classes because of looking for a second job and feeling overwhelmed. In the end she was not at all mad at me and understood the cyclical nature of our business. She just needed a sympathetic ear to hear her story and say, "I understand, I have been their too."

Little did she know who she was talking to! HA!

I told her I knew what it was like to face being without a home, carrying all your belongings in your car. I mentioned I could speak to holding onto one's conviction and calling despite the doubts and confusion of others. I told her I understood what it was like to be over educated and under employed. I spoke of the sacrifices my family and I have made in order to be faithful to God.

When I shared a little of my story with her, she stopped crying, sat forward in her chair and said, "that's just wrong!" Here the tables had been turned, she was now concerned about me! This was great. Once she could see I spoke with her out of empathy and true concern, her life didn't seem so tragic. This is not to say that I am a sorrier person than she, but that connections and relationships are powerful to heal. At the end of our "meeting" as when we were brainstorming some ideas about her situation, we were not boss and employee or management and worker. We were two people struggling to be faithful to God at all cost.

God is good.