Making a Difference

I've been thinking and praying a lot lately about my job and what my purpose is there. I mean, how often does a person get called to serve in Everett, WA??? It isn't exactly the most glamorous of cities! :o) Anyway, it seems like anyone employed in a neonatal ICU would automatically be classified as being a part of a "helping profession." But honestly, until recently, I was having a hard time seeing how I was really helping anybody. So I started to pray about it. Our pastor at Bethany has been preaching a fabulous series on Ecclesiastes. I've never really liked the book because it's contents really scared me. I couldn't reconcile how life could possibly be so "meaningless" and I really did not want to think about it. Pastor Richard has shed new light on the book for me--I might even say that I love Ecclesiastes now! He has preached so many convicting sermons about our work and how a huge percentage of people are dissatisfied with their jobs and are looking for new ones that are bigger and better. Richard simply encouraged us to just focus on doing and being the absolute best we can be at our current jobs. And so that has been my focus this week....

It has been AMAZING! I feel like I've been in somewhat of a spiritual dry spell as of late, not experiencing God in a tangible fashion. But this week has been so different now that I've been working on realigning my perspective! All of a sudden, I have been given wonderful opportunities to be there for hurting coworkers. Honestly, it is weird. I have had people who hardly shared surface stuff with me in the past just open up and dump out all their really personal struggles. Two separate people in as many days have even been moved to tears as they shared. I have never really thought of myself as a good listener (although I would really like to be!) but this week something must have changed and people are letting their guard down and letting me share some of their burdens. The honesty is absolutely wonderful! Even though it took nearly two years to get to this point, I am so excited to feel like I am making a difference. And I feel like maybe God is finally helping me to see why he placed me where he did.