Today I  emerged from my cloffice for awhile to observe what the customer service department really does for our company.  It is a employee owned company.  Each person who works there also owns some stock as well.  (That explains why there were so many people at the meeting to announce what the new stock price was-up 30% from last year.)  Some might think that answering the phone and taking orders would be a simple job, but not where I work.  The products we manufacture and sell are not easily understood unless you are a scientist or a chemist.  As I listened to customer service people on the phones I noticed a few things:

1.  They know all about the products.  They are well versed in what we offer and how it works.  
2.  They know all the procedures that make our company one of the top in the state.
3.  They are always ready to answer questions or concerns and know exactly where and how to access pertinent information at a moment's notice.
4. They work well together sharpening each other's skills and keeping each other accountable.  


Since coming to work there and being exposed to the best the world has to offer, I have become increasingly burdened for the lost.  And I thought to myself, what if I, as a Christian would apply what I've observed in my office to my own life?  Would it make me more successful for the Kingdom of God?


1.  Know the product--Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected.  A superficial head knowledge will not do.  I must have a deep, effectual, relational, ongoing knowledge and experience with God .  How can I rightly explain in a convincing manner something I have not experienced and expect people to buy it?   How can i explain the wonders and beauty of someone that I only know as an acquaintance?  I must know the WHOLE Jesus, the WHOLE gospel.  


2.  Know the procedures that make the gospel work.   What good does it do to tell someone half of something and expect them to make good decisions based on half-truth?  Yet, we do this in Christianity all the time, leaning one way or the other in what we emphasize pertaining to Christ.  If we lean one way too far we end up with greasy grace and sloppy agape which tragically ends in people thinking they are saved when they're not.  If we go hard the other direction we end up in legalistic religion that may alter behavior but not the soul.   
  
3.  Be well equipped to handle anything that someone throws at you.  In order to do this we must invest our time and attention to the instruction manual.  We must know the Word of God.  We must accurately interpret what it says.  We must be able to refer to it in a moment's notice and know where to find what we're looking for.  We must know that it and only it is the truth and refuse to bend or compromise.  Otherwise, it won't work in the life of another.

4. Don't be a Lone Ranger.  Even he had Tonto!  We must remember that we are part of a whole and that whole rightly fitted together creates the living force that brings the Kingdom of God to earth.  Listen to one another.  Heed your brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those more mature or in leadership over you.  Let iron sharpen iron, encouraging and being encouraged, spurring each other on in the good works God has already prepared for us to do.  

As you can see, I'm learning a lot at work!  :-)

As I might have mentioned I am a former basketball player.  I played in high school college, back when I could bend over and actually touch my toes.  Now, some days I would just like to be able to bend over and see my toes!  LOL!

When I left the Community College for the University, I had no plans to play basketball.  I didn't even realize that the women's team at the university I had chosen was the conference champions.  One day I saw a sign posted on a bulletin board about an upcoming basketball informational meeting, so I thought why not go and see what it's all about?  Well, what I found out was that it was more about giving information then getting it as I filled out a paper about my basketball career.  A week later, I got a phone call from the coach, who continued to call me regularly once a week until I finally relented and  started attending practice.  I knew no one on the team by name.  I did recognize some of them as the girls who bought drugs in the anatomy lab in the evenings.  My coach was on his fifth woman, after 4 failed marriages (a notable accomplishment back in a era where divorce was still taboo) and obviously knew very little about managing women.  I endured 3-a-days for a few weeks before spraining the arch of my foot.  I soon realized that the injury was not a fast healing one so I sat down and evaluated my options.  I came to the conclusion that:

• attending school in the inner city was not something I wanted to prolong
• I would have to cut back on my overloaded schedule if I wanted to play basketball and get good grades
• I was not enjoying playing basketball for a maniacal coach
• I really didn't fit in with the "culture" of the women's basketball team
• I wasn't having fun

So I made the decision to quit the team, pack out my schedule and graduate early.  The coach hounded me for weeks waving a scholarship and promises of red shirting in front of my face but I would not change my mind.  You see, back then (when there was no 30 second clock, no dunking, no women's size ball, and no WNBA) there was really no future in it beyond college and I couldn't see the use of it.  It wasn't until a young dynamo from Old Dominion University (who happened to be playing the same time that I was and whose school was in our conference) really brought women's basketball to the forefront and put it on the map laying the foundation for professional basketball and sports announcing opportunities that might have made it worth my while.    

I don't regret my decision though, not for one minute because I used wisdom in looking past the ball that was trying to block my view and it taught me the important lesson that in life, we need to be intentional about what we do.  We need to be willing to lay aside the good for the better, even when we may be talented at the good and it's something we enjoy.  We need to keep our goals for the future in view when making decisions about today.  

I have a bright future.  All the promises of God are mine to enjoy there for all eternity so I need to look past the worldly pleasures of today that are trying to sidetrack me to insure that I reach that future.  In everything I do today, I must do it intentionally to make sure that it lines up with and propels me towards that bright future.  With this mindset, it makes putting today in proper perspective and prioritizing so much easier.   

Just this past week I watched the movie "Miss Congeniality" on t.v.  At one point, undercover agent/pageant contestant Gracie Lou realizes that there's a bomb in the crown of the pageant winner.  Her pageant assistant hears her murmuring  and reminds her "the crown, it's all about the crown. BE the crown. You ARE the crown." 

My goal is to obtain the crown of life.  My future is the new heavens and new earth.  My destiny is to live forever with Christ. To make sure that I reach that destiny I must focus on the prize-the crown of life.  I must look past what is trying to grab my attention today, even though it may seem noble and good.  If it does not assist me, propel me, and encourage me in the end goal, it has to be pushed aside.  I must keep the crown in view at all times!  There is no greater prize! 

Yesterday was a busy day.  I had work from 9-6 and then Worship Practice from 7-9.  Since I live 10 minutes from work and church I knew that it would be a push to get home from work at 6:15, fix dinner and back to church by 7:00.  So i moved practice to 7:30pm and stuck a pan of frozen chicken in the over before leaving for work and set the stove to turn on around 4:00 and bake so that my family could eat at the normal time and I could quick-grab a bite before leaving for practice.  

I don't use that feature on my stove much, but I thought I remembered how it worked so i pushed all the buttons I thought I needed to push and when I saw that it was set to turn on I went off happily to work congratulating myself on my (and the stove's) ingenuity!  I arrived home at 6;15 expecting to see happy, full and satisfied individuals sitting around but it didn't quite work out that way.  When I walked in the door I smelled the aroma of burning soy sauce.  (I had doused the chicken with it before putting it in the oven).  When I reached the kitchen and looked at the oven, it was still baking.  Uh-Oh!  When I opened the door I saw 6 shriveled up, almost black chicken breasts sitting in a dry baking dish.  It was then several things occurred to me:
~Had no one taken a minute to peek in there to see "what's for dinner, MOM?" as they do incessantly when I'm actually in the kitchen trying to cook?
~Am I the only person in the family with a sense of smell?
~Hmmm...I don't remember telling the oven how long to cook, just when to start and at what temperature.
~I really need to use the instruction book next time.

At the very least, it's a good analogy.  

So many people navigate life with the instruction book tucked away on a shelf where it only gathers dust.  When life veers off in the wrong direction or something terrible happens they get upset but they never stop to think about why things might be going up in smoke.  And if they are not thoughtful and realize that maybe they ought to read the manual, their lives will end up stinking and burnt. (I am a "fundie".  I believe in a literal hell.)  I just wish that it would occur to them that maybe they aren't doing some things correctly and that a close read of the instruction manual might help.  Walking according to the Word of God really does make the navigation of life so much easier.

Quick Note:  The black on the chicken turned out to be soy sauce and the chicken turned out to be "actually not to bad", according to the family, and quite edible even though it cooked an hour longer than I originally planned.  Who knew chicken was so versatile?

As some of you know, I just started working a full time temporary position for a well respected company in our area. It's a 9 month position but I am hoping that maybe I will be able to find something within the company permanently.  To be honest, working full-time has been an adjustment for both me and my family.  My hubby has had to step up with transporting children to and from activities, therapy, and doctors appointments because my hours are 9-6 everyday.  My daughter has had to step up her cooking skills as well but I have to say she made the best salad I have had in awhile the other night.   I'm still trying to schedule housework, Sunday school prep, shooting, and writing, but it hasn't been as traumatic as I thought it might be.  I'm just taking everyday one day at a time and relying on God's strength to do whatever He has planned for my day.  

Working in the world has not shocked me.  I knew what to expect.  I didn't know how much it would bother me.  Most of the people at the workplace have a cubicle, so they can see and communicate with at least one other person on the staff.  I have an office to myself which at first bothered me a little because I am such a socialite.  Well, it's not really an office.  The sign on the door says "Janitor's Closet".  But it has a desk, a chair, a waste paper basket, a file cabinet, a shredder and the office Christmas tree in it.  So since it's a closet turned office, it has been dubbed "the Cloffice" by my office mates.  Regular office hours are pretty much normal with phones ringing and polite customer service reps selling products and assisting customers.  At 5pm, most everyone, including the managers go home and things go right down the toilet from there.  For the first three days the conversation immediately turned to religion-mostly making fun of all that I hold dear.  They have no idea that I'm a Pastor's wife or a "fundie" as they call those of us with fundamental type beliefs, at least I like to think that they don't know.  To talk the way they do knowing that they are talking about me would just be callous and disrespectful and I like to think that they are better people than that.  Their perception of what I believe has in fact been quite interesting, enlightening and even comical but I  leave there feeling such a deep sense of pity for them all.  They really just don't get it.  

The thing that really bothers me is the constant bombardment of cuss words and improper conversation. Firstly, it's completely unprofessional but mostly it just makes me feel yukky.  That's why I'm so thankful for my cloffice.  You see, I don't have to answer the phones.  I'm there solely to do data entry so when the language starts I just pull out my ipod and turn on something edifying.  While they are busy with perverted, disgusting talk, I'm listening to scripture, sermons or edifying music.  I do wonder though how Christians who don't have the cloffice option listen to that stuff all day without it affecting them.   I guess God knew that I would need a little bit of solace in the workplace.  I've had a myriad of emotions just in the short time I've been there, but mostly I pity them.  Their shameless, arrogant, and irreverent behavior infuriates me momentarily but then pity just sets in like fog on a cold, rainy morning leaving me burdened for their souls.   I guess maybe that's a little bit how God felt when preparing to send His Son to die.  The cloffice also affords me the opportunity to take each one of them to the Lord in prayer.  Perhaps that's why I'm there in the first place.