I’ve been a custodian for the past two years of my life. If you don’t know me then hear me when I say that God has a sense of humor. Now we all know hate is a strong word. So hear me again when I say I hate cleaning. I think it’s just the physical act of moving that I really hate. I mean who doesn’t like vacuum marks on carpet and windows so crystal clear you could pass through them? Exactly! I’m definitely just lazy.
My first year of establishment cleansing.
My second year in college I decided I needed to get a job. This proved to be difficult because I was taking 21 credit hours and I was a music major. (Music majors understand the weight of the words “I was a music major”) . I applied for the custodial department and got the job! It truly was a blessing to have work. When you’re 20 being able to buy yourself ramen noodles and deodorant really does some good for the mind and soul.
So I cleaned! When I started I was considered “the floater”. If someone was sick I filled in on that floor. If all was well (more often than not) then I was what I called, “stairwell girl”. I made my way around every stairwell in every building and swept, mopped, then scrubbed (on hands and knees) with a bucket each square inch of every step. I cleaned stairwell after stairwell in a circular rotation, in every building. At first I will admit I was humiliated. Then I stopped feeling sorry for myself because in reality I could be doing a lot worse for a whole lot less an hour.
Then something miraculous happened! I started to LOVE my stairwell time. I would sing and jam to Alicia Keys and John Legend all up in that echoed stairwell! I spent hours scrubbing those stairs just to have people dirty them hours later and you know what? I had joy! God was teaching me something that He is still taking me to school on daily. I developed a motto of sorts for myself during this time. “Step by step. One at a time. Don’t skip a single one.”
Every single step counted. A step by itself only elevates you so far. It is several steps in succession that gets you to the next level. If you stop at one or even two, you will not reach the platform.
Every single stair was an example of the way God was lining my steps. Every step I was being transformed, renewed, and cleansed. When I reached the top there was always another stairwell I was at the bottom of. Some steps were easy. A few quick scrubs and on to the next. Some steps?……intense scrubbing and chemical. Blisters on my hands and bruised knees. So why not skip a few, right? That mess hurt! Well for me I couldn’t skip because my boss would then say, “Hey Lydia, you know that stairwell in Zimmerman? Back hall, three flights? Ok well the 4th step on the second flight has some coffee drips on it.” (Maybe a bit of an exaggeration…..and for the record Joe Jay rocks.) Skipping gets ya nowhere! When I’ve tried to skip some of the “steps” I have always ended up farther behind then when I started. God knows exactly what He is doing. He is always on time.
(Something doesn’t belong.)
(Keys to the castle’s……… that I cleaned)
My second year of establishment cleansing:
(Here I am hating my hat)
(Lady Spartan 4 lyfeee!)
Fast forward to a year ago when I was just graduating from CBC and home for the summer. I was originally supposed to stay on at the school and continue cleaning the campus dorms now that school was out. I got about two weeks in without a vehicle and without my friends and decided I was not meant to be there after all! After having a job secured back home I put in my notice and had mom and dad come pick me up from school for the last time! As soon as I got home I found out the job fell through and there I was broke and out of school. I knew I was supposed to be going to Florida to intern as a long-term goal but I had to be making money to go! I started applying everywhere. Two months passed and nothing popped up.
My dad came home one day and said the church was hiring for the custodial crew.
Now let me explain to you the feeling of absolute liberation I felt when I threw down my mop back at school and kissed “those cleaning days behind”. I thought that was just a small “step” in the staircase, my next step had to be greatness!
I applied for the job. After all, this was my home church and I considered it an honor to be on staff and serve. I was hired! And let me tell you, that step of my life was a dirty one! Bruised knees, blisters on my hands, and a sore back for sure. I had just graduated from school with a degree that technically allowed me to be a music pastor or something of the sorts. God straight up strangled every ounce of pride out of my body. Once again I found myself saying, “Ok God. I hear you. I’m here and I’m willing.” Cleaning my church was the most humbling and rewarding experience of my life. I made two of the best friends I could imagine who became brothers and an incredible encouragement to me. I took pride in making God’s house clean for His people. I told myself I would do this until I could genuinely in my heart be happy doing it for free.
(Long hair don’t care)
One day I came in and asked my boss what was on the agenda because we were ahead of the schedule that week. You are never going to guess what she had me do……
I was straight scrubbing stairs on my hands and knees with a bucket! God is a comedian folks!
As I scrubbed that day I could not help but laugh. “Here I am God, scrubbing these steps again.”
I was back to the beginning. “Step by step. One at a time. Don’t skip a single one.” What was I learning?
You are no more important than your brother or sister. Each member has a role. All roles count. All steps count. A title doesn’t qualify you. God’s calling you and anointing you qualifies you. His favor and covering is all that will get you where you need to be. Not my will, but His.
My goal was to get to Florida after saving up enough money to get a car and to have some change to live off of while I transitioned. I was going return to the church I had interned at before and continue to receive wisdom and experience from the family and friends who were there. A few months before I was ready to go I found out that the people I was going to Florida to be with were being called by God to move to another state. I’m telling you what! I was a mess. I was at a complete loss with God. Nothing made any sense to me. Thousands of dollars in debt, a ministry degree, and scrubbing stairs! I had every intention of just saying “screw it, custodian for life.” I thought God called me to be a pastor, a missionary?
The steps?
One at a time. Don’t skip.
So I kept cleaning. I kept serving and I kept waiting and listening.
One Monday morning on my day off I decided to google “mission’s trips.” I knew I wanted to go on a trip soon. Missions have ALWAYS been at the heart of who I am. My heart is so full when I am serving others.
As google popped up results I clicked on the first option, “Adventure’s in Missions”. I began looking at their mission statement and beliefs. I saw that they offered short term and long term trips to a variety of ages and then on the last tab I saw “The World Race”. As I began reading the info, tears came flooding to my eyes.
“Have you ever wondered if there’s something more out there? If there’s more to life than empty traditions, routines, and working 9-5 every day to achieve the impossibility of the American dream?
It’s because there is.
There is a generation of radicals whose heartbeat is to see a changed world. It’s a generation that’s dissatisfied with the status quo and is actively rising to the challenge of seeing the world transformed through tangible expressions of God’s love.” -AIM
As I read this, in my heart I knew that this wasn’t just an emotion that was going to go away. It wasn’t just an “I love Jesus and orphans make me cry type deal.”
As I sat there stunned I heard these words in my head, “Will your heart and soul say yes will your spirit say yes?”
These were the lyrics to a choir song I had heard months ago on a Sunday morning. I believe in that moment God was speaking to my soul. I lifted my hands and began to worship God right there in my room. I said YES God. I will go wherever you call me.
I felt such a release in my heart like never before.
Bringing it home.
Perhaps you’re reading this and finding it “a bit too much” for you. I’m here to tell you that God has a plan and when you’re on that staircase scrubbing that dirty stained stair He is already looking four stair cases above you, planning, and speaking dreams into your heart that you could never even imagine while you’re picking yourself up off of step number one. My God is a way maker! He is on time. We change, He is consistent. We fail, He is perfect.
What is your staircase?
There were times I felt like Cinderella dreaming about a ball and a life I never thought was obtainable.
How will you rise? Will you try and skip when you need to go one at a time?
God is waiting to bless you, to pour out wave after wave of grace and mercy. He is for us. He has a plan for you because He loves you.
I have a billion steps I have to scrub before I leave but I have joy! You can have joy in the journey because Jesus lives and He has known you before you were ever in your mother’s womb. You aren’t here by chance. You have a purpose.
