The Surrendered Life

This month has been an absolute bear for work.  So many miles driven, so many hours away from home, so many odd circumstances, and what has appeared like nothing to show for it.  When I took this design job a few months ago, I knew that I would be sent into many different people’s homes, all of them with different backgrounds and needs.  I believed right from the start that God set up every encounter, knowing who I needed interact with and why.  Sometimes it is straight business, sometimes people don’t even show up for their own appointments, but there’s always a purpose…….I really believe that.  It still doesn’t make it easy when you have a few weeks of what feels like a big fat zero, and the bank account is blinking at you demanding attention.  It’s in those moments that God really digs deep and shows you just how much He’s paying attention.  

I really wasn’t excited about going on an appointment today.  I’m physically and emotionally exhausted from the month, and I was NOT feeling it.  No matter how I’m feeling though, it’s my job to meet the needs of my client to the best of my ability, and to make them feel special in the process.  Today, I arrived at the home of a delightful, sweet woman in her seventies.  She welcomed me into her home amid the chaos that comes with remodeling and construction.  As she proceeded to guide me to the space that will be her new closet, she shared that she had lost her husband.  I was immediately humbled by the reminder that God sends me where I’m needed.  I know that my boss thinks she decides that, but I promise you, God is the one pulling all the strings.  I listened to her needs and desires for her new closet, took all the necessary measurements, and settled down at her dining table to design the perfect space for her.  Throughout the process, I was able to share some of my story, and her face just lit up to know that someone actually understood what she was feeling.  Family and friends have all meant well, but have struggled to know how to help. 

My new sweet friend did purchase a closet today, but I wouldn’t have cared if she didn’t.  When I left, she felt loved, she felt seen, and she felt understood.  Her body language was so much lighter than when I had arrived.  Her grief is fresh.  She just lost her husband of forty years this past September, so there is so much ahead that will be hard.  But today……today she was uplifted, and I am once again OVERWHELMED by the goodness and grace of God, that He would use me and my stories to reach another.  I promise you that I left there today blessed at LEAST as much as she was!  Living my life surrendered completely to what God has in store is truly the most unbelievable blessing.  I have said it many times before, but I will never stop repeating this………your pain is never wasted!  God’s redemptive goodness is the greatest reward in my life, and I can’t give Him enough glory and honor for how faithful He has been.  I just want to be used by Him to shine a bright spot in the dark corners of someone else’s pain.  I ask Him for that, and He answers me constantly.  Truly, I am UNDONE!