The Lord is at work in my life doing beautiful things that I do not understand.
I know this though- He is grooming me.
When I use to work at the waterpark, I had a very incredible general manager that I was lucky enough to learn much from and only disappoint him a few times. He sought me out one day while I was hard at work cleaning a pool in the pre-season to prepare for a training class I was going to teach. After a whirlwind of surprise and magic, we were shaking hands and I had been promoted to Operations Supervisor. All of a sudden, my duties increased from a lot to a ridiculous amount. I was THE man now...well, the woman. And for three departments when I only signed up for one!
I was 18, still in high school and bamboozled into the hardest, most demanding job I've ever had. Over 200 people were now on my payroll, and everything they did reflected me and I reflected my boss.
Luckily, I was naive and he was a smooth talker or I would have never learned the "life boat skills", as we call them, that I gleaned in my 5 years of working there.
There is no doubt, I was unprepared for this job and very unsure of what was expected from me and so everyday I'd meet with my manager and just learn. I'd sit in on meetings when he hired people, fired people and philosophized on discipline, people management and incentives. I would walk the park with him two to three times a day until I saw the park with the wisdom and experience that he viewed it. After spending time with him, his pet peeves became my pet peeves. I could tell from a mile away if one of my employees were out of uniform or on a cell phone during work. No matter what I did or how hard I tried, I could never un-see stains or trash on the floor or trashcans that needed to be emptied (to this day).
My boss groomed me so that when he finally decided (mid-season) to take a day off, he could rest assured his park was in good hands. the hours he spent pointing things out to me was so that I would see them and fix them before he had to point them out. He trained me to hire and fire, to discipline and motivate and it was all on the job training. I would later write manuals for the poor souls who would choose to fill those shoes each year after I went my own way. But I never forgot the value of being groomed and of grooming my own employees. Investing in them and making average new hires into employees who return and eventually, replace you.
God is grooming me. I don't know for what- very much like I did not know for what when I first shook hands with my GM. But I do know that if there is anyone I want to groom me...it's God.
He's at work in me to make me view His people and this world as He does. To take notice of the things He notices and invest in His causes. And it's so exciting!
He is predominately doing this, currently, through women's ministry. Say what?
Words you didn't think you'd hear me say ever... I know right?
And while sometimes I am tempted to feel bamboozled and bask in my inadequacy,
I am SOOO thankful to be where He has me.
Every once and a while I get to see little hints of the beauty of blooming in this place. Tonight was very much that. I got to meet with my sweet group of ladies and discuss Daniel 3 and the struggle to resolve a loyalty that will stand when it's time without hesitation and trust when it's time to trust without any interferance on our part. To be lifted up in prayer by these ladies and pray His mercies over them is a delight that surpasses any accolade I ever received as a simple supervisor.
How sweet it is to have such on the job training, to be groomed by a sovereign, passionate God and be given the privilege to bloom wherever He sees fit.
Grooming and blooming, I pray you all know the joys!
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