“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”
-Psalms 27:13
My fingers tapped the keyboard quickly as I re-read the message on the screen. It was 9.45am and I was eager to send my first email of the day.
After two years and five months in my current role, today marked my last day working for the Ministry of Justice. The tradition in our office is that the person leaving brings in a selection of treats for his/her colleagues, whilst his/her colleagues would arrange a secret collection and present the person with a card, gift and some flowers – all wrapped up with a lovely send off speech to either make you blush/cry/squirm/cringe!
I remember walking around my local ASDA the night before, thinking “God, thank you so much!”.
By God’s grace, I had enjoyed my most successful year ever, and had received the highest end-of-year marking for my performance – and a bonus for my efforts.
I could not be happier.
I had favour with my Judges, favour with my managers and it seemed everything I touched just went well.
But yet, I had to leave. With so much accomplished, I was no longer satisfied, and as the months went on, I found myself bored, no longer challenged by my work. In the space of 12 months, I had ticked off every development goal I had set myself. I had achieved everything I had thought of and it was just….meh.
I had made many friends, but it was not all plain sailing. I had found myself embattled in politics and turf wars, and as PA to the Head Judge, I grew accustomed to the occasional case of Shoot The Messenger.
So when I received a phone call confirming my new job, I was estatic to say the least. A new challenge, with more responsibility, more scope to grow, more money and more benefits. (Somebody shout hallelujahhhh….)
So here I was, writing my farewell message, checking for spelling errors, before pressing ‘Send’ on my first and last email on my last working day….
But this testimony is not about my new job. Believe it or not, the job is a phenomenal thing, but it’s not the main testimony. My testimony is how God was able to use me at my old work place (and how I pray and believe He will use me in my new job.)
You see, when I started my former job, made a commitment to be kind.
Regardless of how I felt, how I was treated or what time of the day it was, I wanted to show kindness.
I had two prayers when I went to work:
1. Lord, please use me to share your Gospel with someone who needs to hear it today.
2. Lord, please help me to be kind.
And God did.
Having sent my email to my work colleagues that morning, I was overwhelmed by the responses. I had already received a majority of the farewell messages in person, but the emails really took my by surprise.
One person told me she’d miss my hugs.
Another said I was the only person who asked her how she was feeling.
Another told me that I was the first person who spoke to her when she joined the Court and introduced her to the rest of the team.
And funnily enough, I had never thought about any of these things before. All I ever thought about was being kind.
So I wanted to share this testimony with you all to encourage you wherever you are in your current walk. Regardless of what you do, whether you are a businessman, businesswoman, househusband or housewife, think about your testimony.
Can you pray for the boldness to share the Gospel?
Can you pray for the grace to be kind?
I hope you will.
As we end the month of October, I want to ask you: What is your testimony?
I pray that you will have many.
Stephanie Speaks On 