Service Job 101

I suppose if they had told me I would be yelled at, spit on, threatened, hit, cried on, sneezed and coughed on, and constantly be surrounded by death, I might not have chosen a social work degree.  But these are the things we don’t know as kids and probably for good reason.  All I knew is that I wanted to make a difference in the lives of people.  So, nearly 21 years later that’s exactly what I’ve done.  I trust with all my heart that God needed me to be in the profession I chose.  It has made me the person I am today and for that I am eternally grateful.  And on the days I wonder why it had to be me to serve in this way, I remember a young mom who came across my path years ago.  She was an addict.  I had the honor of being in her life several different times.  The last time I saw her she had fallen into darkness again and was very sick.  We had built a rapport at this point and I was very frank with her.  I said, “You are going to kill yourself and you have a little boy who needs his mom.”  She came to tears and said, “I know.  I really am ready this time to get clean.”  I brought her the book The Purpose Driven Life and urged her to start reading it.  I signed the inside reminding her that God loved her very much.  As she moved along and out of my service, I wondered how she was doing and trusted that she really did get clean.  A year or two later, she saw me out shopping.  She walked up to me, looking quite well, with a friend at her side.  She looked at the friend and said, “This is the angel I was telling you about.”  She proceeded to thank me and tell me how well she was doing.  These are the things I treasure in my heart and that help me believe God has had a plan for my career and life.
March is National Professional Social Workers Month.  I celebrate this month with all my social work colleagues, but I also want to honor all the people out there who have service-type jobs.  Police officers, troopers, sheriffs, firefighters, military personnel, nurses, nurse’s aides, teachers (love you Mom), ministers (love you Dad), pastors, priests, EMS, counselors, and the list goes on.  Many thanks to you for your tireless, thankless, but amazing work you do day after day.  Your rank here on earth may seem low, but you are servants of the Most High and He will lift you up.  He will fill your cup that you might serve just one more day.

Please share this with the men and women in your life who have a service job to thank them for working in the trenches everyday serving their follow citizens.  You are deeply loved.

​Blessings,
Celeste
“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do…” Ephesians 6:7, 8