Wednesday, May 23, 2012

One great shift

It's taken me longer then I would have liked to get this post up, but with my work schedule and the marathon over the weekend I really haven't had much time to keep you all up to speed.
Last Sunday, the 13th, was possibly the most rewarding shift of work I have ever had. If you want to know the details, hit the link!
It started out as a normal Sunday in electronics. Plenty of questions but also plenty of time just straightening and stocking the shelves. Well three things made it good, two of which made it different & better than any in memory.
The first was minor in some respects but was a relief to me in figuring out Memorial day weekend. You see my brother & his fiancee fly in on Thursday night and I was supposed to them to Fargo on Friday. Well I go scheduled to work Friday so that threw a wrench into the works. Working in such a small department where everyone already has their fill of shifts makes it tough to get shifts covered but the one guy who wasn't scheduled that day happened to be working with me on Sunday. I asked him if he would mind covering it, knowing that if he said no then I would either have a late night or early morning of driving. Well, he said yes. Like I said, not like earth shatteringly important, but it was just a relief to not have to deal with either of the other possibilities.
Earlier in the shift the two better elements occurred.
I was helping a customer who had some questions about our laptops. One of his question was very part specific & I didn't know the answer. Not an unusual situation considering how little training we get but I was honest with the guy. I told him that I didn't know, that I wasn't going to pretend to know or make something up and we don't really get training to know. Apparently my honesty really impressed him because he was genuinely appreciative.
So appreciative that when I returned from my meal break there was a note from the guy with his phone number. The person who took the call told me that I was supposed to call the guy, but that he didn't say what it was about. When I did he reiterated his impression of my approach, just being honest about the situation. He proceeded to offer me a job.
I didn't ask any details about the position, but he said it would be a management roll in a financial management business. I don't really know what that means but even just the opportunity really surprised me. I told him that I couldn't take it because of the proximity of my trip to Kenya. Honesty. Well he went on to say that if I could think of anyone in the area looking for work that I should give them his number and let him know that they are my recommendation.
This was a really big deal for me. Considering how much effort I have put into integrity to see fruit from it is encouraging. I know that one of two things is true. That either God will reward me with a much better opportunity later in life because of the temporary "sacrifice" or He is just sparing me from a terrible situation by bringing it at this time. Possibly both are true. It's really cool either way.
The third thing that happened was also entirely new. I was standing by the cell phone cases when one of the other associates needed my help with a customers questions. They were having trouble communicating, a lot of people do with this particular associate, but I can see why once I started helping the guy. He needed a charger for his phone that fit a plug that wasn't meant for charging.
I did my best to help him, but there wasn't much I could do. During the time though he mentioned some medical conditions he has, almost immediately I got the prick in my conscience to talk to him about God's healing power. I've never talked to anyone about God yet so I was a bit nervous, but the prompt wouldn't dissipate so I trusted the Spirit's leading and made a mention to him about it. He was kind of a vulgar guy but once I got into some "religious" content he changed his tone and language. It's not an unusual thing to happen during these kinds of conversations but was a testimony to me that God was working on him. The conversation was short and I thought of praying for him right there, but didn't think it was the right thing to do. I haven't forgotten his name yet and am continuing to pray for God to manifest His glory in the guys life.
So yeah, it was a tremendous day at work that day. I'm earnestly desiring for more of these sorts of things to happen so that it isn't just a job to collect a check from, but is an encounter with God & people.

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