More Insight

Insight

(Dragonfly Ministries President, Mary Hamrick)

November 2002

I returned to work full-time in August.  It shouldn’t have been a big deal – after all, I’ve worked my entire adult life.  After my last job ended, my husband and I decided that I could take a few months off and enjoy staying at home with the children.  Those few months stretched into the most relaxing and joyous eighteen months of my life.  During those months, not only did I rejoice in being with the children, but I grew spiritually in leaps and bounds.  I learned to sit still.  (I’ve never been able to accomplish that in my life.)  I learned to open my Bible and read; I learned to recognize the voice of God when He speaks to me.  I learned the value of getting outdoors and seeing God in nature.  And I learned that more than anything else in the world, the desire of my heart is to serve the Lord.  He taught me to train my mind to focus on Him.  He taught me how to spend time in prayer without being distracted by the day-to-day activities and demands.  He taught me how to love others with a deeper love and how to see the good in most situations.  (I say ‘most’ situations because I still struggle with that on some days.)  I am a work in progress, as are you.  I daily lift my life to my Lord and ask Him to grow me, to show me, to develop me into His likeness so that He can shine through me.

When the opportunity to return to work came about in July, I struggled over making the decision.  He had, after all, allowed me to spend time with Him over the past eighteen months and returning to work would interfere with my quiet time, my Bible study time, my time with my friends.  (Perhaps ‘my’ time had become more precious to me than His purposes!)  So I asked for direction and when He gave it to me, I said, “Surely I misunderstood – will you tell me again, except this time give me the answer that I want?  I do not want to go back to work.  But wherever you lead, I’ll go.”    In a way that could not be misunderstood, He showed me that in returning to work, I would be doing Kingdom work.  If you know my heart, you understand that God has given me the desire to do Kingdom work.  If He asks me to do anything, I will do it, because I want all people to have the opportunity to come into His Kingdom – the Kingdom of God.  He showed me that it was time for me to get back into the world – I couldn’t make a difference anymore by staying at home and hiding on the mountaintop with Him.  I had to be in the world.  And by being obedient to Him, He would teach me to organize my time so that we would still have quiet time, Bible study time, and time for friends.  And no longer was it ‘my’ time, but it was ‘our’ time.

Within two weeks of returning to work, I began doing a Bible study during lunch break with my sweet co-worker, Mary.  We chose to do Java Time! (Three chapters of Java Time! are included on the website).  It’s a study that only requires 10 minutes a day and no prior planning or homework!  Mary and I don’t do the study every day – we usually meet together two to three days a week.  Having a sister in the workplace is such a blessing for me.  We share testimonies of our lives and what God is teaching us.  What a blessing to again realize that God had a plan for meeting my needs before I knew I had the need.  Before I arrived on the job, He put in place a sister-in-Christ who had the desire to learn and grow in her spiritual walk, and He equipped me with knowledge of a study that would benefit both of us.  He literally carries us through some of our workdays, and He speaks to me through Mary on many occasions.  Over and over again, I see His love for me, in that He provides for all of my needs.  Though I don’t know all of the reasons that He has returned me to work, He wakes me every morning with the knowledge that He has gone before me to prepare the way for my day and my life, and I need only to obey his direction.  He teaches us to be obedient and He will take care of the results.  Though my heart still longs to be home with my children, I know that God has a Kingdom purpose for sending me back into the workforce, and I will go wherever He leads.  The desire of my life is to always be about His business. 

Whether you are in the workplace or spend your days at home, make it a priority to learn to make time for the Lord.  It takes discipline and practice.  I still struggle with getting up early in the morning to have my quiet time, but the Lord blesses each day that begins with Him.  Psalm 143:8 says, “ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”

In Him,
Mary

Mary Slovak and Me ... Mugging for the camera 
during our Java Time! Bible study.
(Photo by Amy)

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