Noticed
Posted on July 23, 2007
Filed Under Ministry, Singing, Writing, Goals, Fulfillment, Work, Faith, Success |
I did it. I gave my notice Thursday. I gave my notice . . .
Let me explain. I don’t know how many of you My Goodness Magaziners remember, but I started this job through a temp agency around 7 months ago. It began as a two-month assignment and parlayed into today. Once my original project concluded, there always seemed to be something else to do. Well, okay. And, the truth is, I didn’t mind at all because I’ve rather enjoyed my time here . . . writing about stuff that I knew nothing about before, but have now learned a little. I’ve enjoyed the inherent freedom of being a temp and taking random days off on a moment’s notice with no one to answer to. (I especially liked that.) Oh, and honestly, I’ve come to really like the people. There is, certainly, a cast of characters here that I won’t soon forget - I hope they can say the same of me.
Yet, even considering all of the positive things about this little job, it never felt like “home” for a couple reasons. One, because the use of the word “temporary” whenever introductions were made kept me uprooted and at a distance, which was fine with me because . . . Two, this job, this wonderful job, while fun, convenient and flexible, didn’t really speak to me, my purpose, my gifts or my goals. It is, in a word, corporate. And, if you know me, I am anything but.
My husband once said that my hair, my wild, curly, unpredictable and indomitable hair, betrays everything about me . . . he’s right. So, meetings that consistently use words like “leverage,” “ratio,” and “deliverables,” kinda scare me and make me want to, well, rip my hair that betrays everything about me out of my head. But, for the past 7 months, this is exactly where God had me, in surrender, in gratitude, in obedience and in waiting . . . for . . . for . . . what? I didn’t know, until . . .
When I accepted the assignment at my job, it was having first negotiated Friday mornings off. See, since last summer and well before this job started, Friday mornings had become kinda sacred to me. At the risk of sounding like Mitch Albom in Tuesdays with Morrie, my Friday mornings have been set aside as time dedicated to songwriting, singing, thinking, dreaming, and praying with a friend named Dave. With no agenda other than to obey the directives to “sing to the Lord a new song” found throughout the book of Psalm, Dave and I have humbly, successfully and pitifully done our collective part, just because. For four hours a week, for the past year, we (and more especially I) have nurtured, shown appreciation for, and respected the natural bent, disposition and desires God placed within me . . . for four hours a week. I made room to acknowledge this particular God investment in me - it was a little room, but still . . .
I don’t know what makes your heart sing. Maybe it’s serving people in need. Maybe you absolutely love painting. Perhaps gardening is your thing. Or, maybe the corporate thing get your blood racing and your adrenaline pumping. I don’t know, but whatever it is, I encourage you to first acknowledge it, then to feed it, grow it, make room for it, appreciate it, be it and do it to the best of your ability, and more importantly, share it with the world around you. Our lives, our gifts are not just for ourselves, but for the world, as we are all beautifully, wonderfully connected, to the glory of God. ‘Cause you just never know what God is going to do when you show faithfullness in the smallest of things . . .
Proverbs 18:16 -
A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great.
I gave my notice. I gave my notice because, unexpectedly and out of the blue, an opportunity presented from thin air that now allows me to serve, worship, and invest in my church full-time and for five days a week . . . not just four hours anymore. I gave my notice, I think, because God noticed me and the four hours a week that I set aside to deliberately do, at least in part, what He created me to do. I think . . . I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I am so grateful.
Peace and Blessings,
Nicole Walters
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God wasn’t the only one who noticed…your heart for worship and your love for His bride is evident to all.
Thanks, Robert. Again, I’m so grateful and, frankly, expectant. I can’t wait to see the unfolding of this new, beautiful thing.