Category: Faith

I recently started working at a third party hotel booking agency. I’ve worked in customer service before, and thought I would be prepared for my new job. I was mistaken. My previous position as a customer service representative was for a lab supply distribution company. We sold chemicals, beakers, syringes, gloves, lab coats, and anything else you might need in a laboratory. Because of our product type, the majority of the people I spoke to on the phone were scientists, who knew what they were talking about and had degrees to prove it. They were well spoken and, unless they were rattling off an unusual chemical name, they were easy to understand. Because I was primarily placing orders, unless their order was late or the order was incorrect, they were generally very calm. My new job is very differernt.

To start with, the customers come from all walks of life.They come from all over, and they are in many different age groups. Some of them are easier to understand than others, and some require a little more patience than the average caller.

Their issues can range from things like roaches, to railroad tracks that are too close. From cancelling, to adding another night. Some calls are much easier to call than others.

One of the things I believe this job is teaching me, is to keep my life and the situations I face in the proper perspective. I have heard some ridiculous things from customers at both jobs, but the fact is, these things are important to the person on the other end of the line. It’s easy to get caught up in our situations and circumstances and then forget how small the things we face really are.

In comparison to eternity, our very lives, are but a vapor. In light of our insignificance, stress makes no sense. The things we are facing will soon pass away. The times of ease pass away just as the times of trial do. Because we, our circumstances, and our lives are temporal, it is extremely important for us to keep our eyes where they really belong: on Jesus.

Jesus alone will not pass away, only He will not change. If our eyes are fixed on the One who was, and is, and is to come, we will not be so easily trapped and distracted by the temporal things we face on a day to day basis. If our eyes are fixed on Jesus, we will see how truly small our problems really are.

When I’m at home, one of the best parts about my grandparents coming to visit is what happens at least one time while they are there. At some point during their visit, my mom, my grandma, and I will all end up in my room. Away from my younger siblings and the male members of the family, the three of us talk.
During my time home for Christmas, my mom and my grandma came to my room. My mom sat in my golden colored chair that sits by my window, and my grandma reclined on my bed with me.

I cannot remember how the conversation came up, but someone started talking about my great-great-aunt Jean. She died less than ten years ago, and I hadn’t known her well. I knew her as my grandma’s aunt who didn’t have any children of  of her own, and who had crocheted or sewed a blanket for each baby born into our family. She and her husband Louis spent large portions of their days just driving around Hastings, and I never really knew why.  Jean and Louis’ house always smelled like the dog she treated like a child and the cigarettes she refused to quit smoking even when the doctor had warned her it would kill her. Mostly, it just smelled like cigarettes.

Either my grandma or my mom began telling a story that I had never heard. It was a story that I would have expected to have been in a book or a movie. It was definitely not something I would have ever imagined happening in real life, and especially not to someone in my family.

The story my grandma told was about Jean and her first husband. I had never known Jean had been married before she married Louis. My mom said her first husband’s name was Clifford Peck. My grandma disagreed and claimed she had never heard that name before in her life. My mom insisted that was his name, and my grandma called my great grandma.

“What was Jean’s first husband’s name?” My grandma asked before even saying hello.

“Clifford Peck.” My great grandma said, instantly.

My grandma merely said, “Thank you. Goodbye,” and then hung up. My great-grandma’s short term memory is slowly going, but she is able to remember the long term things.

My mom and grandma told me that Jean married Clifford, who was in the military. When they were married they moved to New York and lived when his grandma. After they had been married for only a short time, Jean found out that Clifford was already married to someone else! Jean’s parents either sent money to her to travel back to Nebraska, or they went all the way to New York from Nebraska to bring her home.

I was shocked that a story like that one existed , and in my own family! I knew I had to write about it some day.

When I visited my great-grandma during spring break, I was able to find out a little bit more about Clifford Peck. I learned that he was called Kipp, the name my grandma knew of him by. He had been in the millitary, and my family had not really known Kipp before he and Jean were married. My great-grandma hadn’t been fond of him and thought he was a know-it-all.

I couldn’t imagine what Jean had gone through, and wished that after such a shocking and sad experience, there could have been a happy ending. I will never forget Jean; her memory is scattered all through the family in the form of baby blankets.

Friday is the last day of classes before spring break, and I am more than ready to have a time to rest! I’ve been much busier than usual since last Friday, because my RA has been on a missions trip to Marti Gras. Before she left, asked me if I would be willing to be responsible for the hall in her absence. I agreed, and she told the other girls that if they had any problems, they could come to the RDA on our hall or to me. Since she has been gone, there have been a few girls who have needed someone to talk to. The additional time spent listening has, unfortunately, taken away from the time I needed to spend reading and working on my PR for Synoptic Gospels. Now, I have less time before papers, books, and reports are due, and it’s caused me a little bit of stress. Ecclesiastes 12:12 has shown to be very truthful; it says, “…be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.” After the past week, I cannot wait to be home!

The matter of time has really been on my mind the last few days. Over the weekend I was again made aware of the changes that time brings to families and life in general. My family went to visit my grandparents last weekend for my youngest brother’s birthday. When I was younger my family was always able to travel together; however, since my siblings and I have gotten older, one of us usually have had to stay at home because of work or school. During their last trip, only three out of the six kids were able to visit my grandparents. This is just evidence of the inevitable change that time brings. Within the next ten years, it would not be surprising if even my youngest brother was living away from home. The knowledge that things will never be the same is very saddening to me.

Time is one of the few things we can never earn more of. The amount of time that we are given is without the option for increase, we are merely able to choose how we use our time. Do we waste our time or do we take full advantage of the time we have?

I will admit, I frequently use my time poorly on insignificant things. At the end of my life, or even five years from now is it really going to matter whose Facebook status I read, or what strange article on Yahoo I allowed to consume my attention for a few moments? I don’t think so. In the years to come, I am fairly certain that the things that will be the most important to me are my relationship with God, and my time spent with my family.

It’s so easy, especially while I am at CBC, to become too “busy” to spend personal time with God. My studies are primarily Biblical, there’s prayer before every class, I attend chapel every day, and church on Sundays. My schedule is filled with a focus on God and His Word, but there is a problem if I allow my time with God to remain on the “required” level and never bring my focus to a personal level. If the time spent with God is only a requirement, not only will I not have a true relationship with God, but as soon as the requirement is gone, where does my time with God go?

Psalm 90:12 (NLT) says, “Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.” Without making the most of my time and setting aside personal time with God, my wisdom might increase, but it wouldn’t grow. I’m convinced that it is imperative for me to use my time more wisely so that I don’t feel too busy to spend time with my Heavenly Father who always loves for me to give my time to Him.