Everywhere That You Go
May 7, 2008
by Genel Webb
My son said to me recently, “Mom, you make friends everywhere that you go.” I began to share with him that scripture tells us to be friendly and we will have friends. In addition, I believe that if we love the Lord, then we truly love and are interested in other people. I, sincerely, love Jesus and I do love and am genuinely interested in people. The point that I’d like to make is that many of our daily encounters are opportunities for possible friendships —wherever we go and whatever we do, day to day. We can so affect lives by our hearts being supple and open, and they can affect ours. I would say everywhere that you go….friendships can begin.
I’ve had opportunities to supervise employees . My heart has always been to positively impact their lives. In addition, I hoped to have their respect and loyalty, not by force or an iron hand but by their choice, based on my treatment, respect and support of them. In corporate America, as a supervisor, sometimes our actions are governed by corporate policies and the agenda of those above us like managers, directors. This scenario requires much prayer. However as a Believer, when you are in a position where you can, for the most part, institute the policies, you do so with the basis of godly principles in mind. In my current position, I have that opportunity. And recently, I have truly reaped a heart touching harvest from sowing seeds of treating people as the Lord commands.
During some difficult days at the office, I began to talk to the Lord about how I wanted to stop returning to a particularly low place (spiritually) in my walk with Him and I wanted to have unwavering confidence of His directives in my life. I began to question, whether He truly gave me these directions, as it related to the company. On this particular day, in sharing a bit of my heart and essentially being transparent, with our Administrative Assistant, Cindy, she encouraged me greatly. She encouraged me not to doubt what the Lord had given me to do. I thank God for her presence in the office and her friendship to me personally. Later, on that same day, I opened the mail to find this card from another employee. The mostly handwritten (underlined) note read…God has placed you on my heart and in my mind… Thank you for allowing me to be a part of…a wonderful caring company. God has placed you in such an important purposeful position and you do an extraordinary job! At times, it may even seem overwhelming…but He is your strength and your source. Thank you for expressing His love and compassion through your life. And I am praying that He will meet your every need today and in the days ahead. Thinking of you and caring about you…Love in Christ, Sondra.
Can I tell you, sincerely, that I share this story not to make it about me…but to emphasize that the Lord allows us to experience relationships that have the potential for special friendships in many places and situations. We must keep our hearts supple and open to the possibilities that He may allow to be presented to us, in this area. I was touched beyond words! I began to think…” the Lord always has a way….He always has a way to encourage our hearts, even through those from whom we did not expect it.” For a while now, I’ve considered these ladies…not just employees, but friends also. I care about them and God has allowed me to reap a harvest of them caring about me. One of my prayers is, if the Lord says the same, the boundaries of our relationships will broaden and deepen. You truly can make great relationships and affect lives everywhere that you go.
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