I used to have a copy of the “Footprints” poem hanging in my room. You know the one I’m talking about. I found it framed at a thrift store when I was 14 or so, and could not pass it up. God and I were very close during that season of my life…but as I grew, I put the old tacky poem away. Wasn’t my style anymore.
Fast forward 10 years, and I find myself once again contemplating being carried by my Lord.
What man of you, having a hundred sheep,if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, andgo after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner whorepents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:4-7 (emphasis mine)
My savior sees worth in me – enough to go out in search for me when I wander off. When he finds me, he doesn’t hand me a map showing me the way home and *vanish*. He is so much greater than that! He picks me up and carries me. And that’s great, because compared to him I have no strength at all, certainly not enough to get myself out of the messes I make.
He puts me on his shoulders. He takes my burden, my sin, on himself. Rejoicing. He’s happy to do it, because he loves me. He will carry me all the way back to the flock. He will tend to my wounds, and throw a party over my return. I’ll lead him on wild goose chases all over the country side, and he will faithfully look out for me, kindly carrying me home. Every time, no matter how far or close I wander.
My mind can’t wrap itself around the kind of love that makes a girl reading a story about a shepherd and his flock suddenly stop and say, “Hey, I’m the sheep…” and begin to cry.
Today is my last day working in the Corrosion Protection department – Monday I will begin a new rotation in my automotive engineering oddessy. Yesterday I began wrapping up my outstanding assignments, and packed my desk into two cardboard boxes. The move team will come pick them up sometime today and take them over to a foreign building…a desk I’ve never seen and people I’ve never worked with.
This morning my coworkers greeted me with a chocolate farewell cake. They’re taking me out to lunch this afternoon, and I suspect they have a going away present for me as well…(there’s a wrapped box rather ineffectively hidden under the desk across from me.) I’ll say goodbye at the end of the day, and tell them that I’ll stop by once in a while and let them know how I’m doing. It’s not like I’m leaving…just working across town. I’ll feel sad when I leave.
I always feel sad when I leave.
We share the majority of our waking hours together, seeing each other more than spouses and children in many cases. I’ve tried to keep my focus on being a light to them – a listening ear, and extra hand to help with work overload, a smiling face and greeting in the mornings. Just loving them as best as I could…and who would have predicted six months ago that my nearly intolerable coworkers would be my friends.
…….
So why tell you all this? Well, I am humbled every time I am reminded that my coworkers care about me. I have not been perfect, or even nice all the time. But, lo and behold, my coworkers are my friends.
Do you work with your friends? Has this phenomenon happened to you too?
If not, I challenge you to focus a little more, today, on how you can show them that you care. See what happens.
I grew up watching Favre grow up. I was seven when he began playing in the NFL, and he has always been my quarterback. He is an example to me of fighting through adversity to do the thing that you love – what you were born to do. Highs and lows. And leading a group of people to do the same thing, inspiring them to follow.
“It was never about the money or fame or records. And I hear people talk about ‘your accomplishments’ and things that…It was never my accomplishments it was our accomplishments…and the teammates I played with and I can name so many…It was never about me, it was about everybody else. It just so happens that the position I played got most of the attention. But, the Packers have been…it’s been a great relationship, and I hope this organization and the fans appreciate me as much as I appreciate them.”
And as a disciple, called to follow and to lead, to teach and inspire, I value Favre’s example. He is the I in WIN.
It does snow in Hamtramck. I know this, because I just shoveled my driveway. Tonight, after a crazy and confusing day, God blessed me with something familiar.
Winter.
It smells like skiing through a forest. The stillness surrounds you, keeping cottony snow perfectly suspended in the trees. The branches weave an intricate lacy pattern. Wedding dress worthy. There is something fresh about the night – no longer filled with unique city smells. It is heavy. Your lungs feast on the enriched air like Uncle Ben’s rice.
Your cheeks aren’t too cold, and your body is warm, and the only thing that reminds you of the temperature is the nose that won’t stop running. ( Why is that? )
To me, it is being young again. Playing outside with my dad and bother again. Getting up early to shovel the driveway to surprise my mom again.
Just God and I, enjoying winter. I love it, because it is so familiar.
Posted by erinleigh 
Posted by erinleigh 
Posted by erinleigh 
