Melissa, Friend of Shelly

The way I happened upon her ad for office help was so strange...

Today is my four year anniversary working for Shelly.  Four years ago, I wasn't even looking for a job.  But I had thought about finding something part time because I knew that money was going to start getting tight with all of these kids going to high school (boy has it been!)  And then one day, probably mid-August of 2013, I got a random email about a job opening at a church in town.  They were looking for a church secretary.  So I thought about it and then put together a resume and sent it over to that church.  The next day I picked up the little paper that gets thrown into my driveway and actually looked at it...  I almost never look at that thing.  In it was an ad for office help for a local chiropractor.  Since I had applied for the other, I thought to myself "Why not" - and I sent in my resume to that one as well.

I got a call back the next day.  Heck, it might have even been that afternoon.  (I emailed my resume in.)

I interviewed and then interviewed again and then she called me to start two weeks from that day.  I've been here ever since.

I used to think, for the first year or so, that she couldn't remember my name.  :) She called me 'the front desk girl' a lot, but I soon figured out that names didn't always come to her easily.  we developed quite a rapport  - one of our favorite funny things was when she would be thinking about a patient but couldn't remember their name, so she would start listing where they lived or who their kids were or what they did... And I would say, "Oh, you mean Tom Jones" (Not really our patient - ha) and she would say something like "How do you do that?" :) I loved those moments.

We talked a lot about life. We talked about parenting and marriage and we talked a lot about spiritual things. Even though she was older than me by 9 years and had kids longer, she would ask my advice about how to approach this or that.  We had a mutual love for cats and talked about how we would love to have an office cat, but we knew it might not go over so well with patients who didn't like cats or who were allergic. <3

She always remembered my birthday - and I will always remember hers because it is the same day as one of my kids.  She was so thoughtful with gifts and it was her dedication to writing Thank You notes that I have seen the value of sending a hand written note.

The past couple of years I prayed with her often.  She wasn't afraid to ask hard questions.  Her faith was so strong. She would tell me stories about things she experienced while in the hospital or when she wasn't feeling well at home - the Lord was close to her and was revealing Himself to her in very special ways. She didn't always know how to interpret that, so we had some really good conversations about them.

She loved so deeply and so purely.  She loved her patients so much that she worked until she absolutely could not work any longer - and I know that even in her druggy state during the last few weeks, she was still thinking about her work and her patients.

I know that God put me in Shelly's life for a purpose and a reason.  I am so glad that I didn't throw that paper away that day or choose to not send in my resume for the job.  To me, even though this job is not what one would consider a 'ministry' position, it has been for me.  One might think that I am just the 'office help', but I consider myself to be an Ambassador for the Lord. ;)

It'll be interesting to see where the Lord will lead me next...  my job here is not quite done (and I still do not know how long things will continue for me here) but you better bet I'm going to be listening for His voice to lead me to the next spot in my journey.

Grace and peace,
Melissa