An Ear is An Essential Part Of The Body

So tonight was such a long night at work, and I really just wanted to go home and leave the bad night behind me. But, me being the "nice" person I am, stayed to help one of my friends finish cleaning and stocking. As we were working, he started talking to me about how he is excited to start his new job (as an EMT) and about some of the intense challenges he has faced the past couple of weeks. He used to smoke pot, but since he passed his exam he knew he couldn't be around that kind of stuff anymore. One of his friends tried to smoke it in his car this week, and he told her that he couldn't and that he wasn't even going to be around it. His friend had to walk home. As he was telling me this, I was so proud of him! He was angry with his friend for the position she had put him in, and even though he made the right choice, he was still upset that it happened and needed to talk to someone about it. I was honored to be that someone. I told him I would rather have him talk to me about how bad things are going than for him to go out and start using again...and the cool thing was he agreed with me.

As I was walking out of the building, I saw another coworker sitting outside smoking a cigarette and waiting on his ride. As soon as I smelled it I wanted to just get in my truck and leave, but for some reason God led me to sit down 4 inches away from this kid...just to listen to him. He's had it pretty rough...19 years old, a senior in high school who has to go to night school in order to graduate this year, he used to do drugs, he said he was fat as a kid (that one made me laugh), he struggles with ADD, and alot of other stuff. But the thing that really got me was that he said he had stopped going to church recently because he was sick of the hypocrisy. He went to the church that I used to go to, so I was totally able to relate to what he was talking about. He said that the minute he walked through those doors, he was stared down and judged by everyone, and he was sick of all the hypocritical people who said that "everyone is accepted". Now granted this kid is a little different--he has a couple of tattoos, his ears are gaged and rather large, he has a hook going through his septum, and you never know what kind of language is going to fly out of his mouth. But he loves Jesus. End point. He continued to talk for awhile, I really don't know how long we sat out there on this curb with him turning his lungs probably blacker than the pavement in front of us. He mentioned that he was glad there was people like me in the world...I was a little taken back by this statement. I asked him what he meant and he said, "You're a Christian who doesn't judge someone based on looks Jess--you give everyone a chance no matter how bad they might seem to everyone else. You are willing to sit down and have a conversation with anyone no matter what." Wow. I was dumbfounded and extremely convicted in a powerful way. Of course I judge people! That is something I struggle with on a daily basis! And here is this kid--a brother in Christ-- pouring his heart out to me, probably comparing himself to me, telling me what a great person I am. All I am thinking about at that moment was "I need to encourage him...I need to find a way to tell him how much he is loved and treasured! How do I do this God?" And I finally understood why I was there...why I stayed to help my friend, why I sat down next to this other guy, why I stayed when I could have left like I really wanted to. God wanted me to listen to these kids...that's how he wanted me to help them...he wanted me to shut my mouth and just listen and be there. Being a person in this situation is mind opening, it really is a wonderful opportunity to learn about people and their needs. And I found out that I was doing God's will just by listening, how simple is that? How many opportunities do we miss everyday to show God's love because we don't want to take the time to listen? As I think back on my week I know there were several instances where maybe I could have brightened someone's day or encouraged them just by asking them what's new in their life. Psalm 10:17 says, "You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry." The only thing my coworkers needed was someone to lend an ear, and God blessed me with two.