As of earlier today, Friday, December 1st, 2006, I am officially unemployed. Today was the last day of my job that I have had for a year and a half. This was my first “real job” and I can look back and honestly say it was a wonderful experience! I was blessed to work with some amazing women and have made some great friends! I don’t have much work experience to compare this to, but I know that I was blessed!
I learned so much in this past year and a half about myself, social work, work environments, people, and families. I was required to teach things such as parenting skills, budgeting skills, how to locate housing, deal with relationship issues, and so much more! I do admit that it was sometimes interesting offering parenting advice to people twice my age when I don’t have kids of my own and am not even married. I often joke with my mom that I will know how to handle
every situation with my own kids when I am a parent. My mom just laughs. (I think she is in on the truth, that parents never know all the answers.) In addition to the skills that I have learned, I have also learned how I respond to certain situations. I learned what types of people I work best with, that I like to be organized, what I do when I’m stressed, how I remain calm in chaotic situations, etc. One of the most important things I learned from this job is the power of treating people with respect and listening. I could enter a home where the family was extremely upset and angry and after listening to them, affirming them, and respecting them, their attitudes would change. I loved to see that change! When I saw that change in the families, I always said to myself, “Yes! I’m in!” (insert cha-ching motion) This change was the beginning of empowering the families to make major changes in their own lives.
Overall, I developed positive and trusting relationships with the families that I worked with. In addition to the training and supervision I received, and listening and using respect, I feel that another key factor to these relationships was through prayer! I prayed for my families often. Their problems were often rolling around in my head causing me to think of them often. On my way to their homes, I would often turn off the radio and pray for their current issues and pray that my words, thoughts, actions, and expressions would be glorifying to God to lead them into an encounter with an active and living God. I wish that I could say that every family I worked with was successful. I wish that I could say that every family is now getting along and each parent knows what to do, but that would not be true. It is my prayer that through working with me, each family felt accepted, important, and loved, but most importantly they received a glimpse of a God who cares about them deeply no matter their past or current actions.
As much as I want to see Jesus in people throughout this trip, I want people to see Jesus in me as well. I am no where near “Jesus status.” I definitely mess up, don’t always treat people respectfully, or view them as Jesus does, but I think that if we choose to see each other as children of God, created in His image, how He wanted us to be, with our unique personalities and quirks, that this world would be a much better place! I would like to challenge you (and me too) to begin to be aware of how we view people and how we can change our perspective to God’s perspective. I know that it will be difficult at times, but I believe that people will be blessed, changed, and grown through this!
