Reminder of your Riches

I had to detour from my “Decade of Dissabration” to share this story today. I feel kinda stongly about it.

Holidays are rough for everyone for one reason or another:

-          Reminders of family members that have passed on

-          Being single and no one to do all the holiday-ish thingies with

-          Blaring pressure  and glaring reminders of not having enough money with all the secret santas, Christmas parties, new years eve parties, catching up with friends (and of course everything is done over food), baby sitters for your crumb snatchers, gas money to drive to dozens of events and family/friends houses, food to cook, weddings to attend/purchase gifts for

-          People that are freshly divorced or broken up and its their first holiday without the significant other

-          Forced reflection upon how successful or unsuccessful /happy o unhappy the past year has been

So that being said, the enemy or forget that joker we ourselves, can slip into a funk. Again, let my life be a road map for you lol. Let’s read about my funk shall we? Oh come on, you know we like hearing about drama of any kind. It’ll only take a second.

So the scene enters with me this morning at my 2^nd job. It’s going ok my 1^st hour there. I’m starting to get my groove. And then in walks the store manager. I’m somewhat on her bad side right now due to an alleged no call no show (for a place that doesn’t have a vm and no one answers the phone but I digress lol). So yeah in she comes. We’re all shocked as it is because it’s 6am! She does not work or come in this early to check on us. First words to me are “where’s your belt?” I’m like aha I got her! I say “you said you don’t have to wear belts unless your pants have loops.” She says “THOSE have loops.” And I do a no look feel, and sure enough they have loops. #cussapropriatemoment

I say I am sorry I guess I was rushing and grabbed the wrong black pants #truestorytho

She says, “well we’re having visitors at 7 so you’ll have to leave then.” Sighhhh (the sigh was me not her)

But no this is not where the funk slip begins. It’s what happens after this. For some reason this morning, we had no customers in the lobby area. And the hazing began. Out of everyone there she kept sending me out to the keep busy tasks. Let me just say I think my regular manager had me a little spoiled ya know? if there’s nothing to do, she just has me make sure everything’s full, that tables are wiped off, that trays are gathered, and bag up food for the drive thru person.

But not this manager. First she sends me to wash the windows. Then I get back and she says, now can you make sure the bathrooms are stocked. I go to them and I promise I don’t even know what I’m looking for except for if there’s toilet paper and soap. So I check that and I ask her if there’s anything else. She tells me, to WIPE DOWN THE BATHROOM WALLS and make sure I spend extra time under the dryer. And let me just say I wasn’t even mad at her persay because that’s the job. And before I started this job I was like ok I see you Colossians 3:23.

But when I was in the men’s bathroom, scrubbing the wall. I thought about my getting valedictorian, I thought about my bachelor’s degree, I thought about the jobs I had that I was making twice as much and got downsized from, and THE FUNK ensued. I was like God, was it all for this? All that darn hard work for this?!?

Most time I just suck it up and do what I gotta do, but in that men’s bathroom I had a full on MOMENT. I mean I was in a movie with full sad mood music in the background, the montage flashback and all.

Moments like those are why I know God is real. Because it was only because of him that I didn’t just walk out you know?

So she send me on home at like 645a with a reminder to wear my belt next time and I go home and work out a little before I head to my main job.

It hit me while I was venting to one of my besties (that’s why it’s so important to be silent when a friend is talking to you because they can sometimes work their own way to the answer) about how weary I was getting and how I don’t feel I have anything to show for my hard work. It dawned on me, that I’ve really only had 2 major continuous thorns: money and relationships.

I proceeded to think of EVERYTHING ELSE that was going right. Things I have that people all over are praying for and wishing for that has just become my norm.

-          I have a great church home and radical pastors that care about their flock

-          I have never been sick or injured in my life

-          My parents are healthy and very involved in my ilfe

-          I have the best friends on the planet, the kind that support all my endeavors, will be a shoulder to cry on, they let me be me and they don’t separate themselves when I have rough times and give of themselves in every capacity possible (financially, emotionally, spiritually etc…)

-          I have 2 jobs and some people are not able to find one

-          I have multiple gifts and talents and God has given me the boldness to walk and operate in all of them

So I challenge you to examine your life. And whenever you start to feel “poor” in an area, look around and see what riches you are so used to possessing that you don’t even look at anymore.

Kinda like an Arabian princess that is so use to the billions her daddy has that she would dare to say her life sucks just because she is lacking, oh I dunno multiple friends. We may say, “excuse me while I don’t feel sorry for  you as you sit in a million dollar estate.”

Someone can look at us and say, ”excuse me while you’re whining over a job while I look for one.” “or boo hoo you didn’t have a date to the Christmas party. I don’t have legs so its even harder for me to find love.”

LET US ALL MAKE AN EFFORT TO NOT GET SO TIED UP IN THE MATERIAL THINGS AND GET MORE TIED UP IN, LORD AM I PLEASING IN YOUR SITE TODAY? THEN TODAY WASN’T A BAD DAY AFTER ALL.