Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
~1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV)
The countdown until this coming weekend has been in full swing for a few weeks now, but today I started counting down in hours instead of days!!! Friday afternoon can't come soon enough! One of my best friends from when I was little is coming to visit me and I can't wait! It's been 4 years since I've seen her!
I've been frantically trying to get my room organized before she gets here. We moved my sister into her new bedroom on Sunday night, so now I have my own room and get to organize it how I want it! :) It's been an exciting week, that's for sure!
Well, I better get back to organizing! Less than 48 hours until Amanda gets here!!! :)
"I wanna look like love. Be more than just enough for the hearts that are broken, coming undone. It's up to you and me to leave a legacy if we're all they ever see. I wanna look like love.
If I believe there's a Saviour, is the proof in me? Is He alive and breathing? Is He what they remember, is He what they see when they look at me?"
~ Britt Nicole, from Look Like Love
The last number of weeks this song has been rolling around in my head.
I now only have three weeks left in my workplace. THREE! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. Everyday my co-worker friend who I've been training and I talk about how it already a certain day. Each time we talk about it a bigger lump forms in my throat, and a bigger well of tears begins to form in my eyes. Time is going too fast...I'm not ready to leave there...
But I know it's time to start a new chapter in my life. The question running around in my mind is "do the people I work with see Jesus in me? Have I been an example to them? Have I shone the love of Jesus to them? When I am no longer working there will they remember me for me, or for what they saw in me?" My prayer and desire is that they will remember me for WHO they saw in me...not just me for me.
Right now these thoughts are all about my work situation, but reality is it should be the way every Christian should live their life. We should be living every day to shine the love of Jesus to everyone around us...regardless of how much time we have with somebody, because nobody is guaranteed tomorrow.
So, at work I have exactly 14 days left...14 days to pray "Lord use me." 14 days to say "Jesus, please make this day count for You." 14 days to look like Love. 14 days that I pray do not go by quickly...because I'm going to miss everyone of my coworkers....
I guess it's not just now, it's always. Ever since I went to Guatemala in 2005, I have been in love with the Spanish language...just as I fell in love with the Guatemalan people. Throughout the past year or so I've been aching to go back to Guatemala, and so since I'm not there yet I've been immersing myself with the language.
Here's one of the latest songs I've been listening to...
I only have one more month left at my job. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by! I am very excited for the new chapter I'll be starting in the fall, but I am starting to be sad about leaving all the wonderful people I work with.
All the thoughts and emotions running through me right now have brought some thoughts and desires to the forefront of my mind.
Throughout my life I've always desired for God to use me as a missionary in my workplace. My current job is no exception. More than anything I want the people I work with to know Jesus. It's always hard to leave a job because I know the work there isn't done...but I trust God will bring others with the same desire I have to see the harvest in all my former co-workers lives.
In every job I've had I've seen lives be changed when coworkers come into contact with the Holy Spirit shining through me. People have asked questions. Others have apologized for swearing around me and have told me that "I can't swear around you." God's light has shone as I've been willing to be used by Him, and the darkness is exposed.
Tonight I was thinking about how these people in my workplaces have been affected by God's light and how they are drawn to it. The past couple weeks have been full of people asking when I'm done because they're going to miss me. I feel honoured, yet humbled at the same time. I'm just 'little old me' being used by my Great Big God!
All throughout the Bible God uses unlikely people to do great things for him. He used Moses, who had troubles speaking, to bring an entire nation out of captivity. He used Gideon, the smallest in his family, to defeat an army. He used David, someone who had been overlooked by his family, to defeat a giant. He used the least likely to do amazing things. I am overwhelmed that God has chosen me to shine His light in the darkness, so that I can plant, water, and harvest the seeds of His love.
I am sad to leave my workplace in one month. But I still have one month. One month to make a difference. In this last month, my prayer is that God will open up the doors wider than ever before...that I will see a difference around me.
As a song from my favourite childhood movie "God's Zoo" by the Gaithers says "I know You have a purpose, I'm waiting patiently. Next time You have a job to do, could you choose to use me?"
