Today was an awesome day. And it had nothing to do with my turning 61 today. What made it awesome was God directing me in a way that allowed me to be an answer to someone else’s prayer. Here’s the story.
After a busy morning of prayer groups and meeting to connect programs to businesses, I noticed our cleaning lady walking by with a weird expression. I have a glass wall so I see everyone. Didn’t pay it much attention and a few minutes later I went to get a cup of coffee. She entered and my whisper told me to ask her if she was ok. Boy, did I hit the nail on the head. The school where my office is housed was closing for spring break and she had received notice this Thursday she would be off next week . She is the newest hourly employee which means no pay unlike the faculty. She had worked all weekend to get the place spotless so an accreditation team would put a check by facility cleanliness. By being off work next week she would not only lose the weeks pay but also the overtime pay she deserved for her 60 hour week. She had asked when she started about 3 months earlier if this would be happening and was told her position worked the break last year. She was hurt, broke, and angry.
All I could do was listen and let her vent her hurt and anger. I suggested she maintain her high road and not go blasting in to the campus director. I told her the high road always pays you back with something better. We hugged and I started out to go look at waves, my present to myself on this stormy day at the beach.
On the way to my car another whisper told me to go see the campus director. Rather than confront him, I talked about March Madness and the earlier meetings. He is a Syracuse grad. I casually mentioned he may want to go see his cleaning lady since his decision had cost her overtime. I didn’t try to argue his decision, just make him aware of the impact. He looks at me and says, “Are you working next week?” I said, “Of course” and the light bulb went off. He called the cleaning lady’s boss and suggested she keep her working next week. I smiled and drove to the beach. The waves never looked better as I prayed a thank you.
After lunch, I saw our cleaning lady. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I asked what was up and she told me she couldn’t resist and went to give the campus director a piece of her mind. When she arrived she discovered her week was back on and he had already called her boss. Now she was mad at her boss for not calling her immediately. Sometimes you just can’t have it all:)
Had I thought of the solution then I could say, “See what I did.” Instead, the Chairman of the my Board for each of my 22,280 days reminded me of His connecting power when I will just listen and follow His lead. That realization was the best gift I could have received today. It truly is better to give than to receive. Proverbs 3:5-6.
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