by Abraham Lincoln . . . . who, for some reason, felt comfortable sharing with me her recent heartaches. I was at work, in a bank, and she just came in to pay her mortgage. Since we are refinancing lots of mortgages right now, with the interest rates dropping so low, I just asked her what her current interest rate is, so that perhaps we could help her out a bit, if we could get her a lower rate. Suddenly, her eyes filled up with tears, and she began to share with me how she ended up in her current situation . . . . marriage of 25 years falling apart, husband going through "mid-life crisis," loss of job, home repairs that need to be taken care of, financially struggling just to make the mortgage payment each month. So, I listened. And I listened. Fortunately, I had the time to be able to give her my full attention. And she talked and talked. As she shared with me her story, it suddenly occurred to me that my own stress and anxiety over financial issues and physical exhaustion seemed rather manageable. Not that my concerns are not still very real and still very important, but her story put it all into perspective for me, and allowed me to focus on HER pain instead of my own daily frustrations. After about twenty or thirty minutes of conversation, she reached across my desk and took my hand. She said, "I knew God brought me in here today!" And she walked away, headed off to her job at the post office, with a smile on her face and a promise to come back next week to see about that mortgage refi. All I did was listen! And I just keep asking God why I'm working in a bank, when what I REALLY want to be doing is working at home. Maybe I am here for just a time as this. Who knows? Wherever you are TODAY, you can be a blessing and a gift in the life of someone else. Whether it might be in the secret little joys that you bring to your children, or your husband, or your parents, or other family members, or in the wider world of church, community, school, and yes, even in the noise and chaos of the business world . . . . . God can and will use YOU to hold someone else who is struggling. And . . . . if YOU need to be held, know that God has someone out there just waiting to take your hand.
"To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own."
Amen, so very true.
Posted by: Denise | March 24, 2009 at 08:28 PM
Thank you SO much for joining us today! :) Isn't neat to see how God used you at the bank today - and it encouraged your heart as well as the woman's! Thank you for sharing today! :)
Posted by: Loni | March 25, 2009 at 12:13 AM
Thanks for this, after years of having a child with illnesses and being told that soon this could be his last day I set out to make sure that everyday I make a difference in one persons life no matter what .. maybe that was God's purpose with you today.. an awe inspiring voice spoke to you today it might of been the woman you were helping but in my mind I believe it was God speaking thru her directly to you.. way to listen to him and taking them time to just listen. amazing.. to see him work thru people we only know on the internet but yet are drawn so close to
Posted by: christine Kerley | March 26, 2009 at 01:02 AM