Wow...my last post was in March. I'm not very good at blogging regularly so this might be a long one because I have a lot to say. I might just end up writing a few small blogs over the next couple of days. Anyway, here goes...
In my last blog I ended it by saying that hopefully my "big girl job" was on the horizon...boy I couldn't have been more right! As most people know I started working at Columbia College as an administrative assistant in April. All I have to say is that I am so blessed to be working there. While the daily tasks are somewhat mundane and sometimes tedious, I could not ask for a better group of people to be working with and that's what makes the difference to me. Everyone is so kind, helpful, understanding, respectful and appreciative. I am reminded so often by my wonderful coworkers how thankful they are that I am working there and that feels really good. I am able to sit at my desk and do my thing...no one micromanages or hounds me all day...I feel like I am truly respected and appreciated as an independent and hardworking person.
I was reminded this week, though, that I'm not just there to help my coworkers; I'm there to help the students, also. There is a student who was changing campuses from Missouri to Denver and I was her first point of contact. A couple of weeks ago she called and I walked her through all of the steps of getting the right forms submitted and throughout the days that followed I kept in touch with her, making sure everything was processed in time so she could get registered for classes. To me, it was no big deal. I was just doing my job.
She called me on Monday with a question about her first class that evening and after her question was answered she broke down crying on the phone saying how thankful she was for me and everything I have done for her. She told me how where she came from people are not nice, especially to black people, and she has dealt with that discrimination for quite some time, so she was so thankful for my kindness. She told me that God has put me there for a reason and I should never change. She then said, "I don't even know you and I love you with the love of Christ." Talk about powerful. I was almost in tears myself. To me, I was just doing my job and being kind to another human being. It wasn't that big of a deal. But when I spoke to her I realized how much a small act of kindness can mean to another person.
Tonight, I had the greatest pleasure of meeting her! She is truly a bright spirit that I am so thankful to have met. I think in her mind, I was the helpful one who provided some words of encouragement, but really, she gave me a gift of encouragement that I was in dire need of. The past couple of weeks have been rough and I have felt a little lost, so then to have someone, who doesn't even know you, genuinely tell you that you are exactly where God wants you to be and to never change is such a beautiful thing.
To some, they may just be words, but to me...that was exactly what I needed to hear this week. That was the spark I needed to keep my head up and to keep doing what I'm doing, because what I really want to do in life is help people. I can do that even just being the lowest one on the totem pole as an admin. I just want to share encouragement, love and kindness with people in all aspects of my life. It honestly makes me feel really good knowing that I can help others and make them feel good, too. I think that's what life needs to be about-- building each other up so we can all be better human beings. God knows that I need those people in my life to keep me going, too. There was such a joyful energy between the two of us tonight and that's something I wish people could experience more often.
While I will always still have my moments or even entire days that I struggle, I am so confident right now that I am exactly where I need to be and there are only more good things to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment