I’m Posting weekly in 2011!

I’m Posting weekly in 2011!

I’ve decided I want to blog more. Rather than just thinking about doing it, I’m starting right now.  I will be posting on this blog weekly, if not more often, for all of 2011.

I know it won’t be easy, but it might be fun, inspiring, awesome and wonderful. Therefore, I’m promising to make use of The DailyPost, and the community of other bloggers with similiar goals, to help me along the way, including asking for help when I need it and encouraging others when I can.

If you already read my blog, I hope you’ll encourage me with “Comments” , “Likes”,  and good will along the way.

Remember, you can be notified automatically of updates to the blog by going to the “Comment” section of any post and scrolling to the bottom. There will be a button to “Subscribe to Site”. Select it and your done. You will get the updates as I upload them. That’s it!

Thanks and Happy New Year! Felice Ano Nuevo!

Crisis

Inevitably, there will one day be somebody at work who gets one of those phone calls that nobody wants to get – somebody is in jail, someone was caught cheating, the bill collector is at the house, a child got hurt, or some other instance that requires immediate attention by the coworker.

If you’ve had an opportunity to set yourself apart as one who cares, and prays as the Lord leads, then your coworker in crisis will come to you in that time of situational distress.  Those dreaded calls/family emergencies are no fun and they will more than likely seek someone out for support. It will be you. This may not happen immediately, but it will happen.

They will come to you because they know you are a person who prays and who, in their eyes, God listens to in prayer. Take that opportunity to pray for them and let them know that you are available to pray with them again later if they would like.

Don’t leave it there though. Without preaching to them, use the opportunity also to let them know that they can pray on their own too because God listens to everybody. Reminding them of this might just spur them in their own spiritual journey. But, make sure they understand that you are available to pray, that you’re not dusting them off.

These crisis situations happen. As a result, I’ve prayed with several co-workers over the years.  In my cases, the prayers have usually been short, direct to the point prayers. Shortness is not a formula though.  Pray as the Lord leads. It may be awkward at first, but pray.

In every case, eventually each of the people have come back to me and told me that they appreciated me taking the time to listen to them and to pray, that it meant a lot to them. That’s nice to have that affirmation. But, don’t seek that kind of a response – it may never come. The point isn’t to get a pat on the back. It’s to love on the sheep (your coworkers) in prayer.

Is My Workplace a Path, Rocky Place, Thorny Place, or Good Soil?

 

Don’t be discouraged! In the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:4-8) scripture tells of a farmer scattering seed across different types of soil. Some of it landed on a path, some in rocky places, some in thorns, and still other seed landed in good soil.

It is not for us to determine what kind of a workplace we are in, beit a path, rocky place, thorny place, or good soil. We’re to sow into the lives around us and let God take care of the growth. Remember people have a will and can choose to go through rocky or thorny places with God before they reach a place of becoming good soil. This can and does affect the workplace. But, that’s all between God and that individual.

We, on the other hand, are to be the ones taking advantage of the opportunity to plant a seed (a spiritual seed, manna, something that will cause them to contemplate about the Master). Those opportunities are given to us by divine arrangement anyway. So, move forward!

Forgotten and Resuscitated

After several moves and jobs later, I would forget about the “Workplace Ministry” concept. It would be a while before I would be reminded again that my job is my ministry. Once I was reminded, however, I again purposed to be more deliberate about it by praying for my co-workers before work and checking in with them about where they are at in this station in life.

It wasn’t long before people started telling me their life stories, along with their heartaches and triumphs. People just gravitated toward me. Occasionally, some would even come to church service with me.

Don’t get me wrong, my job isn’t perfect. There are times when I get aggravated and disappointed by the cubicle political atmosphere of the workplace. That’s no different from anyone else and happens in any company. But, those aggravations and disappointments lead to the real question, how do I react to those challenges?

It really is THE important question – How do I react? That’s what people around us in the workplace do, they watch our reaction. They get to learn our character by how we respond to situations. That’s where the opportunity to shine for Christ is. We could mouth off some expletives and belittle the people responsible, or we can choose pray and wait for the appropriate time to respectfully express our concern without any attitude (No, it’s not easy).

Scripture says that we are not to let the sun go down on our anger. I take that seriously. But,… it’s hard. It’s too easy to hold a grudge from the workplace.  Instead of taking the slight home with me, however, I will wait, cooling off for a few minutes, or a half hour. Then I will discuss it, or call a person into the back room to discuss it. Often times though, by choosing to wait to cool off, I’ve already apologized to God for my attitude, and forgotten about the perceived wrong. In all reality, if it’s forgotten that quickly anyway, then it isn’t worth bringing back up at the workplace in the first place.

Above the Level of Reproach (Part 2)

 (PART 2 of 2)

Recently, I had another example of a person noticing the difference in my life. It occurred when a coworker’s task completion was called into question. A manager called and discussed a seemingly incomplete task and blown deadline with my coworker friend. She was stunned by the accusation and started emphatically pleading her innocence. Then she yelled at the phone, all the while looking at me, “I did it! I know I did it! Hernando was here! You can even ask him and he’ll tell you I did it AND YOU KNOW HERNANDO WOULDN’T LIE!”

The manager never asked to speak with me. I suspect that’s because he knows enough of my character as to find it highly unlikely that I would lie. The fact that my coworker used me as her support in revealing truth was enough validation for him. So, he believed her, apologized to her, and dropped the subject.

I won’t say that I’ve never lied. What I will say, is that it’s rare and that I’ve regretted those times that I have. I have a conscience that still gets a hold of me. Some might say that it’s the Spirit that prods me. I’d rather tell the truth and be able to sleep at night, than be wondering when a lie is going to come back and bite me. But, that’s not the point anyway! The point of the coworker using me for validation is that she noticed a couple of things about my character that reflects Christ, truth and trustworthiness.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to sound conceited or trying to get a pat on the back. That’s not the case. I could have a doctorate degree in “Shortcomings”. I just choose not to wallow in them. So, I get back up from shortcomings and try to live a life above the level of reproach, above the accepted mediocrity, regardless of what the situation is. I want my life to bless Him, not man. Then I try to do it again, and again.

I caution my readers though, living the life above reproach only happens through prayer. Otherwise, continued efforts and failures leave a person defeated. It is through prayer that I get the glimpses I need of Him. Those glimpses, however small, sustain me, change me, and motivate me.

So back to the two questions,… Why would anyone do mediocre work for God? Why would we allow ourselves to believe that we work for mere man?

The answers,… We shouldn’t do mediocre work for God. We should do our job in a way that pleases God.