The Mail Room Mission Field

A couple of years ago I was stubbornly unemployed for almost 9 months - 3/4ths of a year.  The economy was tanking and unemployment was higher than ever.  For every job I applied for - so did 300 other people.  I couldn't even get interviews or return calls.  It was when I was overlooked for a job at Pet Smart (Hello!!  Pet Smart?!) that I figured I was in trouble.  Because I had officially quit my last job ("Because I had to take care of my child" wasn't a good enough reason for the government) I was unable to draw any unemployment.  I lived off a little tax refund check, some monthly child support and whatever the Good Lord provided for 9 months.

It was hard.  It really was.  But looking back now I can't complain.  I spent my extra free time getting closer to God.  I depended on Him for everything and He provided for us at every turn.  It seems like we had everything we needed - and even some of the things we wanted!  I had the time to volunteer at the local food bank a few times and I got to go with my church on some of our little mission projects.  Matthew and I had the best summer ever, spending lots of quality time together at the local public pool or at Carowinds taking advantage of our seasons passes.  I was also available to take care of my mom if she needed me.  I didn't know it then - but she was quickly heading towards the end of her life on earth.  She needed me a lot.  And I was able to be there for her.  What a blessing unemployment turned out to be.

The more time I spent with God the easier it was for me to trust that He would take care of us in every way.  I completely surrendered my job search to him as every 'opportunity' I tried to force left me more depressed and defeated.  I quit looking for employment altogether.  One Sunday morning in church I was standing in the choir loft near the end of service.  The pastor was praying.  During his prayer, my heart started to cry out to God.  "Bless me, God", I pleaded.  "So I can be a blessing to others".  "Give me the job that You would have me do, Lord", I asked.  "And where ever you send me I'll do it the job the best that I can and I will always work to glorify You".

When church was over I was coming down the steps of the choir loft.  A woman who's name I didn't know but recognized as a visitor at the church was coming up the steps.  She stopped me and said "I heard you were looking for a job".

Well yes I was, I told her.  She went on to tell me that a friend of hers worked at a company in Charlotte.  She didn't know exactly what they did or if they even needed anyone - but if I sent her my resume she would send it on over to her friend.  I sent the church visitor my resume later that day and I didn't think much else about it.

The next day her friend called me and told me she had gotten my resume and I was exactly what they were looking for!  "What is it that you're looking for?"  I asked her, realizing that I didn't even know what sort of business it was.

They were looking for a person to work in the mail room of a Homeowners Association Management Company.  How I was "exactly what they were looking for", I have no idea.  Nothing on my resume was even close to anything mail room-related, I thought.  She asked if I could come for an interview the next day and I said "Yes!"

The place was a long way from my house.  It was only going to be part time and not much money per hour.  Had I seen the job in the want-ads I don't think I would have even applied for it, as I had no mail room experience or any desire to get mail room experience.  But I contemplated my prayer telling God that where ever He sent me I would go.

My interview went very well and a couple days later, after nine months of unemployment, wondering where the power bill money was going to come from, deciding between gas money and groceries and many meals of Ramen Noodles with butter - I was employed!!  I realized right away that getting that job had nothing to do with me.  It was a gift and it might as well have been wrapped in paper and adorned with a big, shiny bow from God Himself!

I think that understanding God's plan for your life is nearly impossible!  Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and believe that He knows what He's doing!  The mail room girl - I didn't get it.  At first.  But it wasn't long before I realized what an answered prayer it really was!  Right away I found Jesus-loving Christians in the place and there was even a Wednesday morning prayer group!  If Jesus was there then I knew I was in the right place!  And because I spent 9 months robbing Peter to pay Paul and paying my utility bills in order of which one was next to be disconnected, I would have gladly taken ANY job!  I wasn't digging a ditch (not that digging ditches is not a noble profession) and I was super happy with the awesome opportunity I had been provided!

Because I felt like God Himself lined up this job for me, I looked at it like I was walking into a mission field to do God's work.  I opened hundreds and hundreds of pieces of mail everyday and I would randomly pray for the people as I opened their envelopes.  Over the last 18 months of opening mail I've gotten countless "Tracts" - little pamphlets explaining the way to Salvation through Jesus Christ.  I would pray for those folks and their ministries.  We've gotten mail from disgruntled people - and I would especially pray for them!  There was a lady in one of our older communities who sent her check in every month.  According to her account she was a widow.  Her handwriting was very shaky and barely legible.  I thought maybe she had Parkinson's Disease.  Each month the writing on her check got worse and worse.  Every time I opened her mail I prayed for her.  It wasn't that long ago when we received a letter from her son, saying they were putting her home on the market and were trying to get her into an assisted living center.  A month or so later her checks stopped coming.  I was sad, as I'd grown to love that little lady and her shaky handwriting.  I spent a lot of time "just opening mail" but I also prayed during much of it.  I was close to God in my little mail room.

The mail room wasn't the only 'mission field'.  I went over to the post office everyday.  In spending a few minutes a day over the last 18 months picking up the mail I got to know the two ladies who worked there.  They always had church playing on the radio - and we've had countless small conversations on how great God is!  One of the ladies cried with me on my first day back to work after my mother died - and lifted me up in prayer right there in the post office.  That day was one of the darkest days of my whole life - and God put postal worker Monica on the job that day to remind me of the Joy that only comes from the Lord.

There was a lady standing behind me in line one morning at the post office.  She had on a pink sweat shirt and a pink hat with a pink ribbon embroidered on the front.  She looked like she'd been crying.  "Are you ok?" I asked.  She told me that she would be ok, but that she had just come from the hair salon.  She had been going through treatment for breast cancer and her hair had started to fall out.  "I just had it all shaved off", she continued.  She took off her hat and revealed to me her bald head.  "You're the first person to see it!"  she said, starting to cry.  "What do you think?", she laughed through tears.  By then I was crying myself and told her I thought she was beautiful.  I asked the lady if I could give her a hug and she said she needed that more than anything in the world.  I embraced the stranger and she cried in my arms.  I was grateful for that opportunity.  I think of her often and I hope that she's doing well.

I could write on and on about the blessing the mail room has been for me.  At the least is was a bi-monthly paycheck that fed my kid.  It was an answer to my mother's prayer - as she always hoped I'd find something that I liked and somewhere that would 'understand' if my son got sick and I needed to be home with him.  It provided some health insurance for me - something I didn't have before.  I found some new friends and a group of prayer warriors.  But at the most it was a God-led change of direction for my life and a specific stepping stone on the path that He planned for me before time began.  Is that a little dramatic for a mail room job?  Maybe so.  But that's how it feels.  I loved that job and I treated it like it was the most important position in the place!  I also did the job remembering the promise I made to God - that I work at whatever job He gave me to glorify Him.  I took pride in the work I did and I enjoyed it.  I've been given a new position at my company and I moved into my new office on Friday.  It sounds silly - but I'm a little sad about leaving the mail room behind!  So as I head into my new mission field I will continue to pray for the little mission field in the mail room and hope that the new mail room person loves it as much as I did!