Five Minute Friday Post - The word this week is GUIDE

Jumping In

Five Minute Friday Post - The word this week is GUIDE.
The is my first time posting for FMF and I'm excited to join a community of Christian writers. I'm also scared. I joined because need encouragement and "guidance" as I jump into the writing world more seriously than ever.

When I think about a guide, I naturally go to the Holy Spirit. Daily, I ask for His guidance. I also also ask Him to make it real clear for me, because I don't want to miss it. I don't want to miss anything anymore. Time is just too short and the older I get the faster it passes. So I'm seeking Him and making myself available.

I've wanted to write for years and I believe God put that desire in my heart. Back then I wanted to write steamy, summer beach reads. Now, I want to write what He wants to tell someone. I may never know who that is or how they might be affected, but that doesn't matter. I have only to obey my guide, God will take it from there.

My five minutes are up.

You can find FMF at http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/

Being Comfortable in Obedience

     
Matthew 5:40-41 

40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 

     I missed this, writing this blog. I think I stopped writing because no one else sees it. Like it doesn't matter. That's how I feel about most of what I do, especially at work, that it just doesn't matter. Why do I feel this way?
     I recently listened to Your Move, a podcast from Andy Stanley (www.yourmove.is/ the Work It episode), about why what we do at work really does matter. He said it, what I do -- what we do, it matters because God's people matter. The people at work matter to God and how I represent Him to them matters to God. I got that right away, so I paid attention to the rest of the podcast.
     I was listening while taking a walk after a tough day at work, one with some drama surrounding implementation of a customer requirement. It's not new, just new to our organization. The customer describes it as a Manufacturing-led process, but I felt they didn't want to do it. It was never said but there really wasn't what I would call forward motion. I feared it would be come another thing for the Quality department to do, but I wanted to allow Manufacturing time to take responsibility and follow-through. It wasn't happening and we were on a deadline. 
     You see, assuming responsibility for things like this is something I typically do, I've always done it. For that reason sometimes it's hard for me to let go. The truth is, operating like that doesn't really help the organization for the long term. It doesn't teach anyone anything. I'm going to retire in a few years and I feel obligated to teach people how to do the things I've always done. Better yet, give them the confidence to figure out on their own. I want to leave with a strong team in place. 
     While listening to the podcast, I just knew that God was telling me to help them. To set aside any preconceived notions about their intent. To help them by showing them how to do it. The challenge was that I had no experience with this new process either. 
     Mr. Stanley was telling a story about going the extra mile, specifically when the Roman soldier could have anyone carry his gear one mile. Matthew tells us that we should go two miles and give our coat along with our shirt...you know the story. Thinking in those terms changed my outlook. 
     In my mind, the hand-off was made in that moment. I knew God wanted me to take it back from Manufacturing, to drive this implementation as an example of cooperation. There wasn't an argument from me. I've never had clarity like that before, it was very ...hmmm...comfortable. I remember chuckling about how God just snuck up on me with the idea.
     Here's the thing - I had to accept the responsibility happily, congenially, humbly. No finger-pointing or "I told you so's" allowed either. Simply accept the responsibility, one that was not mine, and do it with a smile. 
     Now, how was I going to explain that to my Quality team? It turns out that I didn't have to. I obeyed, it's God's responsibility to take care of the rest.  It's been a couple of weeks now and ... so far so good. We're getting comfortable.